Not everything needs to be an outcome—or an OKR

Put your investments in two buckets

This post builds on concepts discussed in the articles below. To get the most of it, I recommend reading them first:

• It’s time to be outcome driven.

• An OKR should measure the outcome, not the work.

This post is also available in Portuguese.

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There's a common journey when people start developing their outcome muscles¹.

In the beginning, organizations usually act as if anything could be an OKR.

Their Key Results include projects, such as “Launch our new website,” and project metrics, like “Move 100% of the servers to the cloud.” Some OKRs are so confusing that it's hard to understand what they mean.

Unfortunately, most companies never move beyond this stage and wonder why they aren't getting results from OKR.

As people start to develop new muscles and mindsets, all their OKRs become outcomes.

But only tracking outcomes leads to a common challenge.

At this stage, people usually can't or don't know how to measure the outcomes of many of their investments.

Sometimes, the outcome is unclear, the organization doesn't have metrics for it, or doesn't collect the data to measure it.

As a consequence, a large part of the company's investments—and a large part of what the teams are working on—is not represented in the OKRs.

A large part of the organization's investments and priorities disappear from view when tracking OKRs.

This lack of visibility can cause confusion, misalignment, and frustration among the teams, making them feel like their work doesn't matter.

What should you do if you can't measure the outcomes of your investments?

Put investments in two buckets

A useful analogy is to imagine that we are going to put our investments and priorities into two “buckets,” representing the approaches for managing work.

If the term “investments” sounds a bit foreign to you, think about your team's priorities instead. Where are you investing your time?

In the first bucket, we'll put the investments that are focused on achieving outcomes and will be managed using the outcomes approach.

In this group, we can clearly define our desired outcomes and how to measure them. We'll test different ideas until we achieve each outcome.

In the second bucket, we'll put the investments that are focused on meeting project deadlines and will be managed using the due dates approach (also known as the “PMO approach").

Here we have projects that don't have an outcome directly associated with them, at least for now. These are the “projects without outcomes".

Investments with outcomes we can measure go into the outcomes bucket.

Investments with outcomes we can't measure—at least for now—go into the bucket focused on due dates.

Managing two buckets: OKR + Projects

To manage those two buckets, we need to start thinking about OKR + Projects.

The idea is that besides achieving our OKR, we also have to deliver these projects without outcomes, or just projects, for short.

Here's an example:

Using the two buckets can bring several benefits

Adopting the two buckets technique is a small change that can bring several benefits. It only takes a bit of discipline.

First, the two buckets give visibility to all your important investments and priorities, whether managed by outcomes or due dates.

Many teams choose to track both buckets during the OKR check-in to simplify things.

Thinking about OKR + Projects also helps you develop the muscles and mindsets needed to focus on outcomes. It forces you to separate outcomes from projects and project metrics.

Using this technique means there's absolutely no reason to put projects in your OKRs. Just put them in the due dates bucket—a project by another name is still a project.

Using the two buckets can also help you focus.

A common trap is limiting the number of your OKRs to show you are focused but keeping multiple projects running in parallel “on the side.” This way, you avoid having to say no.

Visualizing all the projects you have going on can be a powerful tool to help you focus by limiting your work in progress (WIP).

Finally, the two buckets help you understand where your investments are going. Are you investing to achieve outcomes or just meet due dates?

They also enable an important conversation about whether you are using the best approach to manage each investment.

"How should we manage this investment?"

Separating your investments into two buckets allows you to review each one and ask, how should we manage this investment?

Most companies realize they are using way more due dates than they should. There are many investments that they “should” manage using outcomes, but don't.

While there's no single right answer, many investments are naturally more suited to be managed using either outcomes or due dates.

For example, if you are investing in a new self-service app to help customers solve issues without having to contact support, you should probably focus on that outcome.

But there are cases where there is little benefit in trying to apply the outcomes approach.

Small dependencies should be managed using due dates

One common situation is when you need to do something small to help another team achieve their outcome. Those small dependencies are often better suited to be managed using due dates.

If helping the other team will take up a lot of your time, it often makes sense to create a shared OKR with them and work together for a common outcome.

But you can't use shared OKRs for every small dependency, or you'll end up with dozens of OKRs.

For example, let's say the company lawyer has to review several small contracts with vendors or partners that other teams need to achieve their outcomes. Managing those contracts using due dates is probably the best choice.

But if the lawyer is helping the sales team negotiate a multi-million dollar deal with its largest customer ever, a shared OKR would be a great option.

Some types of work are better managed using due dates

Another common example is when engineers have to apply security fixes to eliminate vulnerabilities in an application.

The team could try to track the number of completed security updates, but that's just a project metric. It measures the work done but not if it made a difference.

Much of the work related to compliance, risk, and regulatory demands is similar. Often, there's a long list of tasks that need to be done and the available metrics simply track their completion.

Instead of trying to shoehorn these examples into outcomes, it's often easier to manage them as projects without outcomes. That doesn't mean this type of work isn't important—it simply means that it's often better managed using the due dates approach.

But teams shouldn't blindly follow orders. Leaders must help product teams collaborate with stakeholders to understand how to reduce risk or comply with regulations while providing a good customer experience.

As you develop your outcome muscles and mindsets, you'll be able to move to the next stage in your journey.

More Outcomes, Fewer Dates

Separating your investments into two buckets makes it abundantly clear when you are overusing due dates.

As companies continue to develop new muscles and mindsets, they work towards More Outcomes, Fewer Dates. They intentionally increase the “share” of their investments managed with outcomes and data over time.

We are not talking about zero dates but fewer dates.

More Outcomes, Fewer Dates is about deliberately choosing the best approach for each context and developing the muscles and mindsets to make that happen.

That means building new skills and mental models in people, but also developing the capabilities and mechanisms in the organization to enable those skills.

In my experience, many companies can increase the use of outcomes in the first quarter after adopting the two buckets.

The initial changes needed are often simple. For example, creating a new metric based on existing data or tracking outcomes that the company was already measuring but had been ignored.

Other changes take time, as they require deeper shifts in the organization's operating model and culture. You won’t get there overnight, but it’s possible to make improvements every quarter.

We'll dive deeper into More Outcomes, Fewer Dates in an upcoming article. We'll also discuss how to measure outcomes that are hard to measure. For now, let's clarify a few things.

You may have to work on a project now so you can focus on an outcome later

Before you can measure an outcome for the first time, there's usually some preliminary work necessary.

People often have to collect the necessary data, create reports, or define a new metric—which are all examples of developing outcome muscles one step at a time.

Often there's no time to complete this setup for all your intended Key Results before the quarter begins. The solution is to add those preliminary tasks to your list of projects without outcomes to ensure they won’t be overlooked.

You have to work on that preparation project now so you can focus on your desired outcome later.

However, there's no need to wait until the next quarter to start working on that outcome. As soon as this initial setup is done, you can add a new Key Result to your OKR and start tracking it.

Adding a new Key Result mid-quarter is fine, as long as it's truly important and you don't end up with too many of them.

Meeting a due date can be as crucial as any outcome

Putting something in the due dates bucket doesn't make it less important. Meeting a deadline can be as crucial as any outcome.

Years ago, I worked with a payments company that had a few critical deadlines they couldn't afford to miss.

Visa and MasterCard issued mandatory updates every six months or so. If these updates weren't implemented on time, the company risked losing the ability to process card payments—which is kind of important for a payments company.

The company ensured these critical projects were visible to everyone by using the two buckets technique and tracking them alongside their OKRs.

Product teams need time for discovery before committing to due dates

The payments company is not alone. All businesses have to commit to due dates from time to time, and meeting these deadlines is crucial to moving to the product model.

That means empowered product teams need to be able to make what Marty Cagan calls high-integrity commitments.

A high-integrity commitment is a promise made by a product team to meet a crucial business deadline while having a high confidence in their ability to deliver.

To ensure leaders can rely on these deadlines, product teams need time to do product discovery before committing to due dates.

As Marty Cagan wrote in Empowered:

Once the product team believes they understand the solution sufficiently, they can estimate with high confidence how long it will take for them to deliver on this commitment (feasibility), and also whether that solution will work for the customer (value and usability) and work for your company (viability).

High-integrity commitments should be the exception, not the rule, and should be used only for critical deadlines.

Meeting a due date is often not enough—you must also achieve the desired outcome

More often than not, you can't simply commit to meeting a deadline. You also have to achieve the desired outcome.

For example, many companies have to ensure their websites are ready in time for Black Friday. That means all the special deals have to be up, but also that the website is able to handle all the additional traffic without problems.

Simply shipping a feature on the agreed due date is not enough. The feature also has to achieve the intended outcome: what is the measurable benefit you want to create for the customer and/or the business?

Without discipline, you'll end up with a long list of projects and due dates

Our brains are wired to think about projects and due dates. Without discipline, you’ll stick to your habits and end up with a long list of deliverables and deadlines.

Here are five tips that will help:

1) Never stop developing your muscles and mindsets

If you want to benefit from outcomes or OKR, you must never stop developing your outcome muscles and mindsets. Continuous improvement is key.

People often stop after an initial win, but the best companies continue to evolve quarter after quarter.

2) Never mix outcomes (or OKRs) with projects

Never include projects or project metrics in your OKRs. Always manage the two buckets separately.

Remember: there's no benefit in claiming your project is a Key Result.

3) Only give up after trying to define the outcome for 30 minutes

Before deciding to manage an investment as a project, I want you to pause and dedicate the time to try to define the desired outcome.

Most people give up in 30 seconds. I want you to spend at least 30 minutes.

At the very least, this will help develop your outcome muscles and mindsets.

You may also learn you need to do some preparation work now so you can focus on the outcome later.

If 30 minutes seems like too much, ask yourself if the investment is really important. Maybe it's not worth doing at all.

Some investments are better managed using due dates, but you can only make that decision after putting in the effort to define the outcome.

4) When in doubt, put it in the due dates bucket

It's natural to be unsure if something is an outcome, especially at the beginning. If you are not sure if something is an outcome, put it in the due dates bucket.

5) Perform quarterly project cleanups

Most companies have way more ongoing projects than they should.

These companies spread their investments across multiple priorities instead of focusing on the handful of goals that will move the needle.

That's why you should perform quarterly project cleanups: once a quarter, go through all the items in your due dates bucket—all your ongoing projects—and drastically reduce their number.

Which projects are not aligned with the strategy? Which ones are desirable but not critical?

Let’s put this into practice

We’ll be back soon with another post. In the meantime, the best way to put this article into practice is by discussing its main takeaways with your colleagues or friends.

Here are a few questions to help:

• Check your current OKRs. Are there any projects or project metrics that should be moved to the due dates bucket?

• Separate your investments or priorities in the two buckets. How much of your work is managed using outcomes vs. due dates?

• Review the items in your due dates bucket. Can you identify simple changes you could make to measure outcomes?

• Which projects can you eliminate?

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments or email me.

What to read next

Learn how to use the two bucket technique in practice in our next article.

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1. Of course, real life is way more complicated than this. But this is still a useful way to think about these challenges.