Output vs Outcome

The story

So three years ago, I was a fresh graduate, the job market was tough (or at least it felt that way), and I was lucky enough to land a frontend developer role at a small startup. The first few months were exciting - I was learning fast, working hard, staying late. My code was clean. I could hunt down tricky bugs. My greatest achievement back then - solving a major UX problems of one of the core features and getting it shipped - that took lots of convincing.

Fast forward three years - and I am still doing the same things.

If you're not improving, you're degrading.

It's not that I stopped learning. I was learning Flutter, backend development, UX, and even started an early version of this blog (which didn't go anywhere, if you're wondering). So I picked up hobbies — building PCs, building robots, planting, photography, video editing — chasing the things that once inspired me in my childhood.

But looking back, I was mostly consuming, not creating. Buying more gear, trying new things, but never really making something meaningful. This feeling of dread never left me, until recently, when the meaning of the word "outcome", enter my vocabulary.

I was focusing on output, not outcome.

The terminology

• Output:

  • The number of things that you do.
  • The quality of the code that you write.
  • The number of features that you implement.
  • The bugs that you fix.

• Outcome:

  • The impact that your work has on the users.
  • The value that your work brings to the company.
  • The satisfaction that you get from your work.
  • The growth that you experience from your work.

The traps

The traps for people with the craftsmanship mindset

People with a craftsmanship mindset focus on improving quality — believing that better work always means more value.

Wait, isn’t that a good thing?

Yes, absolutely. I’ve followed this mindset myself and still believe in it. But here’s the trap.

Imagine you’re assigned to build a feature that only a small percentage of users will ever use — and it’s not that impactful to begin with. Let’s say its value is 1%. You spend a month perfecting it: clean code, great UX, thoughtful details. You improve it little by little, say 1% each day for 22 working days — which compounds to about 24% improvement overall.

1% improvement every day for 22 days = 24% improvement

Feature value = (100% + 1%)²² ≈ 1.24×

24% of 1% = 0.24%, so the feature is now worth 1.24%

You worked hard and were proud — but in the end, you turned a 1% feature into a 1.24% feature.

That’s not to say craftsmanship doesn’t matter. It does. But the key is where you apply it. If you focus on a feature worth 10%, that same mindset could lift it to 12.4%. Focus on things that matter more.

The traps for high-productivity mindset

It’s easy to look at the example and wonder, "Why not just make that 1% feature faster?"

Honestly, I’d agree — to a point.

1. You may ship the feature faster, but it might not truly solve the user’s problem.
2. Rushing past deeper issues can create hidden debt that slows everything down later — including the user experience.
3. You miss chances to learn and improve, building more features but less value. Users get clutter instead of clarity.
4. Small bugs add up, frustrating users and reflecting poorly on you as the developer.
5. If you’re a manager, pushing this pace too long burns people out — and eventually, they’ll lose trust in you.

It can feel like progress, but you’re just adding noise. The product bloats, users lose patience, and your team burns out as you scramble to fix what never should’ve been built.

The traps for the outcome oriented

The two traps described above inhibit a common pattern: focusing on details that provide only 1% of value, instead of the actions that deliver 10-20% value. By concentrating too much on minor aspects, you may lose sight of the larger objectives—value, growth, impact, and ultimately, the outcome.

If you’ve become outcome-oriented, congratulations—you’ve escaped the output traps. But beware: new traps await.

1. You neglect the output — the process. Did you read about the 10-20% and decide these 1% details are irrelevant? Congratulations! You’ve inadvertently become a dreamer, focused on grand visions. But did you take action to realize them? To achieve a 10% outcome, you must complete ten small 1% steps. Do the work patiently, regularly holding yourself accountable to avoid rushing.
2. Are your 10-20% outcome targets realistic? Where do those numbers come from? I invented them as an example. Are yours grounded in data, or are they just optimistic guesses? You must verify with real data, research your competitors, and analyze why they succeed or fail. Don’t let arrogance set you up for failure.
3. You forget the value of collaboration — and of caring for yourself. When others seem slow, frustration pushes you to take over and do things your way. You listen, but it’s hard to truly hear. In trying to keep everything on your shoulders, you leave little room for others to grow — and end up exhausted yourself.

The way out

So, how to escape these traps? I don't have an easy answer yet, but here are some things that I am trying to do:

1. Focus on the outcome, not the output. Reflect on your work regularly. Are you focusing on the right things? Did the team improve, or were they just playing the blame game? Are you making progress towards the outcome? - This is exactly why Scrum has the retrospective and review meeting at the end of each sprint.

2. Don't waste time on features that deliver little value. Don't be afraid to say no to features that don't align with the goals, even if they are requested by the users or your CEO. This won’t be easy to deal with; you all will need to sit down and decide if this is a "feature creep" or an "essential feature".

3. Take care of yourself and your team. Make sure everyone is happy in their life so they can contribute effectively. They can't help you achieve the outcome if they are miserable and distracted by their personal issues.

4. Be humble and open to feedback. You don't have all the answers, and you can always learn from others - your team, your communities, your users, your competitors.

5. Celebrate the small wins. Every step towards the outcome is a victory.

The list here may be too idealistic, but well, I think that we need to start with beautiful ideas first. Who in their right mind would be drawn in to take the first steps if they were faced with the harsh reality anyway?

Acknowledgement

• Thanks to this podcast by Vietcetera for helping me understand what “outcome” really means. It actually woke me up at 3 a.m. thinking about it (not kidding!). That moment pushed me to write this blog — My whole life would probably still be stuck without it.
• ChatGPT helped clean up my messy draft and make it more readable. It’s been a good reminder that I still have a lot to learn. Note to self: pay attention to their style, keep improving, and try to write better on my own.