Outcome

Outcome

A result or change we achieve within our enterprise or its ecosystem.

Description

Outcomes are the results of activities. They can be intended results such as goals, objectives or more generally the purpose an enterprise strives to achieve. Outcomes can also be unintended, when events unfold unexpectedly and results can only be seen after they appear. They can be direct outcomes of our activity, or an impact further down the chain of outcomes outside of our direct control or influence. As such, any outcome is a state change we can observe in our own organisation, with our customers or co-creators, in our markets or ecosystem. They represent a state change in or around our enterprise, to be pursued in advance or measured after they can be observed. Such a change can be represented as a variable, such as yes or no, present or absent, good or bad, more or less, or numbers.

Examples

• Double our market share in a country by the end of the following year.
• Explore the potential outcomes of a physical infrastructure upgrade.
• React to an important development in the labour market as an outcome of regulatory change.

Use

• Model goals to define what we mean by success.
• Find what to measure, look for or observe to track outcomes.
• Compare to establish the gap between our intent and actual achievements.
• Consider unintended consequences of an activity or change.
• Map out business plans or intended results.

Related

• people pursue outcomes
• activities lead to outcomes
• structures are needed to achieve outcomes
• capabilities are an outcomes of being ready for execution
• tasks are people's personal intended outcomes
• purposes are higher level outcomes we pursue

Variants

• Goals: intended outcomes
• Externalities: unplanned or unintended outcomes
• Metrics or indicators: variables that measure outcomes
• Drivers: outcomes in our ecosystem that influence our enterprise
• Impact: outcomes in our ecosystem that we only partially influence or control