Would you like to be promoted? Here’s a trick that will deliver the outcome you want. The trick is found in two words used in the previous sentence, namely deliver and outcome.

In lower-level positions, the focus is on completing tasks. Hence the buzz word ‘deliverables’. What will you deliver by the end of the day, by the end of the project? Your success is often measured in how efficiently you deliver.

At a senior level, the focus should be on the outcome that the strategy aims to create. The measure of success should be effectiveness. Did we create the desired effect or outcome?

Consider this. The parcel at your door is the deliverable; how you feel on opening it is the outcome. The outcome, not the deliverable, determines whether you will order again.

The ones who understand outcomes are the ones who manage those who must deliver.

Welcome to my side of the nonsense divide.