We love to celebrate the moment a feature ships, or a roadmap item goes live. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: delivery is not the finish line — outcome and impact is.
For too long, teams have equated “done” with “delivered.” We pat ourselves on the back for shipping a feature, even if no one uses it. We track velocity instead of value. We obsess over output, while outcomes quietly slip through the cracks.
It’s time for a mindset shift.
The Delivery Delusion
Many organizations are still stuck in a project mindset. Success is measured by hitting deadlines, staying within budget, and delivering scope. The Gantt chart is gospel, and shipping something — anything — becomes the finish line.
But in today’s fast-changing world, that model is broken.
Shipping is just the starting point. If what we deliver doesn’t create value, change behavior, or improve a key outcome, all we’ve done is activity. Often we increase technical debt — and possibly user frustration.
Redefining “Done”
In Scrum, the Definition of Done ensures what we ship is potentially releasable and meets quality standards. It is about the Output quality. But there’s a missing piece.
This is why the Scrum Guide Expansion Pack has two commitments:
- Definition of Output Done
- Definition of Outcome Done
By describing and quantifying the Outcome, we have another clear objective to work towards. Those two commitments can be seen as two rail guards, the one ensures we build the right thing, and the other ensures we build it right. Two powerful enabling constraints.
The real question is: Did what we deliver achieve the intended outcome?
Outcome isn’t about what we’ve built — it’s about what’s different because we built it. It’s the change in customer behavior, business performance, or even society.
The right outcomes drive the company impact. Aiming for a specific impact guided by outputs is like following an outdated GPS that leads you flawlessly to a vacant lot instead of the new school — your “perfect” navigation still lands you in the wrong place.
Why This Matters
Focusing on impact through the outcome lens unlocks smarter decisions at every level:
- Teams stop chasing feature factories and start owning value.
- Product Owners align Product Backlog items with measurable customer goals.
- Leadership gets real feedback on strategy execution.
- Customers get products that actually solve their problems.
It’s not about doing more. It’s about doing what matters.
Making the Shift: Three Practical Moves
1. Start with Outcomes
Every initiative should begin by defining the change you want to see. Ask: What will be different if we succeed? How does success look like?
2. Use Evidence, Not Opinions
Track impact with data. Define measurable signals of success (Evidence-Based Management can help). Validate hypotheses early and often.
3. Extend ‘Done’ to Include Learning
A feature isn’t truly done until you’ve inspected its effects. Did it solve the problem? Did it create the expected behavior change?
Final Thoughts
We don’t build products to ship features. We build them to create better futures— for our users, our businesses, and society. That future only arrives when delivery turns into outcome driven impact.
So next time you ship something, don’t break out the champagne just yet.
Instead, ask yourself:
“What actually changed?”
Because delivery is a milestone.
Outcome is the finish line.
Quick Reference Links
- Scrum Guide 2020 — Definition of Done
- Scrum Guide Expansion Pack — Definition of Outcome Done
- Evidence-Based Management Guide — Outcomes & Measurement
- “Feature Factory” term origin — John Cutler interview