Tasks vs. outcomes
I figure out what to do each day based on a running to-do list. This is the first job where I’ve really needed it, because there are too many discrete, non-standardized tasks to keep it straight in my head. A task on my list takes anywhere from 15 min (email customer about something) to a few hours (do a deck for a particular analysis that I’ve never done before).
The problem with the to-do list is that it’s about tasks and not about outcomes. It is outcomes that matter. An outcome could be something like increase revenue for a customer or building good relationships with people. There is no one single task that will cause the outcome. There is arguably a set of tasks that could build up to it, but the tasks are hard to define. And concrete, measurable outcomes are better than vague ones, but some highly desirable outcomes can only be qualitatively stated and cannot be quantified.
So I am trying to get better at linking my daily tasks to the outcomes. More importantly, I am also trying to nail down this art of defining the outcomes.
Let me explain one area where I know I’ve done it wrong. I’ve been setting these quarterly goals. I have “keep up classical music habit” as an outcome, and the corollary tasks are to see a certain number of performances a quarter. The problem is that the task itself can become quite meaningless. If I just show up at concerts for a bunch of evenings and check off my to do list, I would have completed the tasks and even achieved my stated outcome, but I would not achieved what I actually want.
What I actually want is a deeper relationship with the art, a more in-depth appreciation. I want these experiences to make me feel and think differently about the world. A tall order but I think that’s the point. So I need to define my outcomes a bit differently. A well defined outcome should put me in a different place from where I started.
So that’s what I’m trying to figure out. What are these outcomes that I would like to have say, a year from now. And what are the tasks I can do every day so that a year from now I arrive at that outcome.
(And how do I stop doing tasks that don’t lead to the outcomes.)
