Outcomes Over Output

Output, Outcomes, Impact. Those are three strong words that seemingly go well together in any context. But is there a clear difference between each term? Josh Seiden is the author of Outcomes Over Output, and he provides one of the best definitions of outcomes I have ever heard–a change in customer behavior that leads to better business results. While the message is simple, moving from output thinking to an outcomes-based mindset requires a change in habits.

This Interview’s Origin Story

I am a big fan of OKR’s expert, Ben Lamorte. He’s been on our show three different times. One of our conversations is by far the most downloaded in our podcast catalog. Our last conversation is in the top ten of all shows.

It was during that last conversation that Ben mentioned a book that he highly recommended–Outcomes Over Output by Josh Seiden. I understand why he was so high on the book. I read it once, then again, and even a third time. Yes, the message is simple, but thinking in outputs is deeply engrained in our cognitive muscle memory. Josh reminds us there’s a better way to achieve better business results not just for ourselves, but for the customers we serve.

Interview Highlights

1. What is your best definition of outcomes in a business?
2. Why is it so hard to overcome outputs-based thinking?
3. What was your greatest epiphany toward embracing outcomes over outputs?
4. What is the Logic Model created by the Kellogg Foundation and how have you adapted it to your framework?
5. Provide examples showing the difference between outputs, outcomes, and impact.
6. What are the three rules for outcome-based transformation?
7. Where do hypotheses come into play with outcomes thinking?
8. The HBR story in the book is a great case study. Did you have anything to do with it?
9. Should the use of retrospectives be applied weekly?
10. Can you tell us about one of your other books, Sense and Respond?

Important Links

This is easily a five-star book. The links to the resources mentioned at the end of the book are worth the price of the book alone. Here are some of the resources that were mentioned:

• Outcomes Mapping
• Impact Mapping
• Kellogg Foundation Logic Model
• North Star Metric

You can follow Josh on Twitter and LinkedIn.