Output vs Outcome — What’s your focus?

As he sat down for another week of work, Allen raced up to him, rather anxious, he announced, “We have an issue.”

Ryan, still trying to find the coffee cup he left at his desk last Friday, to get his morning cuppa, murmured in a very grumpy tone, “What is it?”. Without as much as a glimpse towards the intruder in his morning ritual.

“The last batch of trainees we graduated to the business, are not doing well on the production floor”. Allen blurted out. He was waiting all morning to break the news to Ryan. He knew this would trigger a series of events that he would rather avoid. But there was no escape. It was probably a better this way rather than Ryan reading it over an email from their customer.

“Hmmm… Did they all clear the assessment benchmarks we agreed with the customer?” Asked Ryan, in a very casual manner, as though he saw this coming. Over the years, he saw far too many such cases and complaints that he cared little about it anymore.

“Yes!” All of them. Replied Allen. It is not our mistake if they still have issues. Right?”. Quizzed Allen, looking for ratification.

“Yep! If we did everything we are supposed to, and if they cleared all the agreed benchmarks, it is out of our control”. Said Ryan getting up and finding his way to the coffee machine. Just another day at work for Ryan.

Case closed? Was Allen right?

To me, this is an example of the Output vs Outcome conflict. We experience such instances at work every day.

Output

The output is all those set of things, we are expected to do. We are meant to do. We are paid to do. It is a checklist of sorts that we are all expected to do in our jobs. Doing these things increases the probability of success, guarantees standardization, and ensures predictability.

Outcome

The outcome, on the other hand, is the purpose of the output. It is larger than output itself. A series of measured outputs may increase the probability of an outcome but does not guarantee it. Focusing on the outcome will most certainly guarantee customer delight.

It, however, may not follow established processes and in some cases may require deviating from it.

In a knowledge and talent dependent industry, since each individual is different, our emphasis should be on the outcome of each trainee rather than a series of checklist like assessments and measures that guarantee output.

People who place importance on the outcome often are critical of established processes. They constantly look for doing things differently and for the final purpose of the customer. They are the ones who usually innovate, redefine or change the status quo.

Focusing on the outcome also takes away the monotony in everything we do. It brings a larger sense of purpose in our jobs and fulfills our corporate existence.

Organizations that focus on driving this sense of purpose among their employees, see lesser attrition rates, higher knowledge retention, and a greater sense of ownership & responsibility.

As we grow into the teenage years of the digital era, our dependence on processes needs flexibility. The rules of the industrial age, may not apply in total now. We need to revisit some of these established theories and hard-coded assumptions about our knowledge of business and talent management.

Focus on outcome, and end customer relevance should take center stage of our every action.

How would you take this conversation further?