Outcomes Over Output

The book Outcomes Over Output: Why Customer Behavior is the Key Metric for Business Success by Josh Seiden is a short, practical guide to helping teams focus on delivering outcomes that matter to their customers.

The book argues that traditional approaches to setting goals and measuring success, which focus on outputs (such as features or deliverables), are often misguided. Instead, Seiden argues that teams should focus on outcomes (such as changes in customer behavior), which are the true measure of success.

The book provides a framework for defining and measuring outcomes, and it also discusses the challenges of shifting from an output-oriented mindset to an outcome-oriented mindset. Seiden also provides case studies from companies that have successfully adopted an outcomes-oriented approach.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the book:

• Outcomes are more important than outputs. Outputs are what you produce, while outcomes are the impact that your work has on others.
• Outcomes should be defined in terms of customer behavior. What changes do you want to see in your customers' behavior as a result of your work?
• Outcomes should be measurable. You need to be able to track and measure your progress towards your outcomes.
• It's important to experiment and iterate. Don't be afraid to try new things and see what works.
• Focus on the customer. Always keep the customer in mind when defining and measuring your outcomes.

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