Shifting From Managing By Outputs To Managing By Outcomes If you are like most leaders, you got to where you are because you are good at making decisions. You can quickly go from strategy to execution. You know exactly what should be done next. But for most of us, this strength can become a weakness. When we make all the output decisions (e.g. what to build, what programs to roll out, how a process should work), our company’s solutions are only as good as we are. To avoid this trap, instead of telling our teams what to do, we need to tell them what outcomes we expect them to drive. It’s a subtle, but powerful shift. In this talk, Teresa will explore how your role changes when you manage by outcomes.

1. Teresa Torres
www.ProductTalk.org{
@ttorres
Managing
Outputs vs. Outcomes

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Managing Outputs

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Managing Outcomes

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Managing Outcomes and Outputs

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Most teams communicate progress by
communicating outputs.

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Therefore, we give feedback on those outputs.

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Highest Paid Person’s Opinion

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Many of the problems we face in business are
ill-structured.
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Well-structured
problems
•Key elements of the problem are
definable
•Limited number of well-defined
rules that can be applied to solve
the problem
•The problem’s solutions are
knowable.
Ill-structured
Problems
•Possess elements that are unknown
•Have multiple criteria for evaluating
solutions
•Require a solver to make several
judgment calls

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Ill-structured problems have no right answers.

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Ill-structured problems only have better or worse answers.

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How we frame an ill-structured problem impacts
the solutions we can generate.
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Each solution we entertain furthers our
understanding of the ill-structured problem.
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Managing Outputs

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Managing Outcomes

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The Opportunity Solution Tree
Define a Clear Desired
Outcome

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The Opportunity Solution Tree
Define a Clear Desired
Outcome
Discover Opportunities to
Drive that Desired Outcome

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The Opportunity Solution Tree
Define a Clear Desired
Outcome
Discover Opportunities to
Drive that Desired Outcome
Discover Solutions that Deliver
on Those Opportunities

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Outcome
Opportunity Opportunity
Opportunity Opportunity
Solution Solution Solution
Product Team
conducts weekly
customer interviews
…
… to discover
opportunities.
Product
Leader
Product
Team
Negotiate
desired outcome
quarterly
Product Team
builds prototypes and
runs product experiments
weekly to evaluate solutions.
Is this solution …
usable?
feasible?
Does this solution
address the
opportunity?
Does the opportunity
address a real
pain point, need, desire?
Does the solution
address the opportunity
in a way that drives
the desired outcome?
Product Team
generates multiple solutions for the
same opportunity setting up a
“compare and contrast” decision.
Opportunity
Continuous
Discovery
As solutions
evolve, understanding
of the opportunity
evolves.
As understanding of
the opportunity space
evolves, we learn more
about how we might
reach our desired
outcome.
© Copyright Product Talk LLC www.ProductTalk.org

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Highest Paid Person’s Opinion

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The leader communicates
the business priorities.
The team communicates
how much how soon.

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How we frame an ill-structured problem impacts
the solutions we can generate.
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Is there a clear understanding of the opportunity space?

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Is the opportunity space too shallow?

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“To maintain the state of doubt and to carry on
systematic and protracted inquiry — these are the
essentials of thinking.”
- John Dewey, How We Think
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Are those opportunities real?
I need …

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What opportunities are missing?
?
?
? I need …
?
?

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I want to pay
for another
subscription.
Look for opportunities that are not framed from
your constituent’s points of view..
I want
compelling
content.

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I want to
fast-forward
through
commercials.
Look for opportunities that are
solutions in disguise.

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Are similar opportunities grouped together?

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Are opportunities distinct from each other?

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Are they using the tree structure to prioritize?

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Are they using the tree structure to prioritize?

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Can they justify their target opportunity decision?

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Are they ideating across their whole tree
instead of focusing on their target opportunity?

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Are they generating enough ideas?

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Are they testing their assumptions?

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Do their ideas still solve the target opportunity?

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Outcome
Opportunity Opportunity
Opportunity Opportunity
Solution Solution Solution
Product Team
conducts weekly
customer interviews
…
… to discover
opportunities.
Product
Leader
Product
Team
Negotiate
desired outcome
quarterly
Product Team
builds prototypes and
runs product experiments
weekly to evaluate solutions.
Is this solution …
usable?
feasible?
Does this solution
address the
opportunity?
Does the opportunity
address a real
pain point, need, desire?
Does the solution
address the opportunity
in a way that drives
the desired outcome?
Product Team
generates multiple solutions for the
same opportunity setting up a
“compare and contrast” decision.
Opportunity
Continuous
Discovery
As solutions
evolve, understanding
of the opportunity
evolves.
As understanding of
the opportunity space
evolves, we learn more
about how we might
reach our desired
outcome.
© Copyright Product Talk LLC www.ProductTalk.org
Grab both maps at: ProductTalk.org/leading-discovery

58. Teresa Torres
Product Discovery Coach{
ProductTalk.org
@ttorres
Let’s keep the
conversation going.