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For anyone I’ve had the pleasure of working with over the last few years, then I’m certain it will resonate when you hear me say “outcome over output”. There have been so many conversations and presentations where this has been at the heart of those moments, where we’ve talked passionately about the ambition and desire to move away from counting how many things we shipped, or obsessing over the dates we promised, and instead pivoting to a mindset shaped by the outcomes for end users, whether inside or outside of the organisation. 
 
What happens in this conversation is often the same. Not just for someone in a Product specific role, also for Engineers, Architects, even to some extent those in Delivery roles (and let’s face it, that is a harder sell), as deep down, we all really want to place our focus on driving value, better outcomes, behavioural change. All the cool stuff that makes us feel like we’re really making a difference.  
 
Ever since I’ve been in Product, the over-arching driving factor, has been to move the dial on what matters, namely outcomes. But why is this often hard? If you already work in an environment and with a culture where this is second nature, or have been through a successful transition process, then I’d like to think you’re in a great place, and would encourage you to share, advocate, and evangelise this to everyone you can. Not only does this bring substance to our days, it also provides that warm feeling you get from knowing you made a key difference to customers, and ultimately to the organisation.  
 
However, as I write this, I honestly can’t say that it has been the norm in the places I’ve worked. That doesn’t say bad things about those organisations, it simply identifies that they’ve not yet moved the dial to a place where this matters most. Sure, everyone will say it does, and somewhere across the ecosystem, there are also some who are living and breathing it, so why not everyone? That is an enormously challenging question, and one which creates some emotive opinions and behaviours, in my own experience, often driven from a feeling that whoever is in control of that part of the equation, carries the power to influence and decide.  
 
It’s not easy to call this out, and of course, sometimes the truth is a tough pill to swallow. If you work in such an environment, I’m certain this is resonating. A couple of years back, I gave a presentation to a group from a supplier, talking to the journey of transformation for Product teams, out of such ways of thinking and operating, and across to the goal of outcomes. The one message that stands out for me to this day, is that when you keep counting what you ship, like the number of features delivered, then this is a slippery slope, because it’s false, and just vanity. As I said that day, “vanity is insanity”. Who are we trying to impress by saying we shipped ‘n’ more of this or that? And what real value can we place behind that message? For me, it’s next to meaningless, and a waste of all our valuable time. 
 
So where am I going with this? Now I’m at Skyjed, and in the early part of a new chapter in my Product career, I’m coming at this problem from a fresh angle. To date, I’ve been out there banging the drum in organisations and teams, for a change in mindsets, approaches, and where to place the focus. To pivot away from obsessing over sizing and costing everything before we even get started. I believe that’s just waste and promotes even more vanity metrics. I can now stand behind a toolkit to enable these changes. A toolkit that until now, I’ve simply not seen made available to us in Product. This is game changing, if we allow ourselves to embrace it. 
 
Skyjed isn’t focused on building out a roadmap. It’s not looking to size and deliver more output from that roadmap. It’s not placing a focus on the near view at the end of our nose. Skyjed steps out and above from these spaces, and seeks to embrace a Product first, Product led approach, from ideation, through creation, growth, maturity, and ultimately decline. Because Skyjed is about the full lifecycle of the Product, and promotes a focus upon the design, performance, and health of all Products. This could be targeted at a regulatory matter, by frequent Product audits and reviews, day to day performance measures (those lovely outcomes!), and all wrapped inside a constant health check status for every Product. Have you really had a tool to power that before, rather than piecing it together from a range of disparate sources.  
 
There are many reasons why I recently joined Skyjed. Here we have a toolkit to power up Product led growth, to place Product Managers at the heart of proactive decision making and risk identification, and to kick it all off with deep and insightful strategic planning, where key measures like your goals and OKR’s can be played easily into the Design of great Products.  
 
For some time, this has been my north star. To be in a space where we can fuel and empower Products and the teams that craft them. I’d love you to come and have a look at what we’re doing at Skyjed to make this a reality, to give us your thoughts and insights, and to be part of that journey yourself as a result. Together we will all make this change happen for the good of everyone working in or with Products.

How can you get involved? It's easy. It's FREE. It just requires a little of your time, to come and try out the toolkit, and help us make it even bigger and better. Our FREE starter tier, with no time limit or trial period is right here just waiting for you to give it a go.....