Session 2: Start with the end
What are we trying to make true?
Length: 45 to 60 minutes.
Format: short teach, real-work exercise, written
output.
The team leaves this session with one vague project rewritten as a clear outcome they can actually run. The teach is fifteen minutes; the work is forty.
Session at a glance
- Length: 45 to 60 minutes.
- You will need: the Outcome Brief template open or printed for each participant; the Glossary open to Outcome and Strategy; one real, currently vague project chosen ahead of time (see The week before below).
- Participants leave with: one completed Outcome Brief for a real project the team is starting or restarting.
What we will teach
- Outcome versus task.
- Definition of done.
- Clear goals with measurable signals.
- Tradeoffs — what are we choosing not to do?
Timed agenda
| Time | Segment | Move |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00 – 0:05 | Open | State the question. Read the “task vs. outcome” example from the Glossary. |
| 0:05 – 0:20 | The teach | Walk the four ideas above with one example each. |
| 0:20 – 0:45 | Exercise | The group rewrites the chosen project as an outcome together, then pressure-tests the measure. |
| 0:45 – 0:55 | Wrap | Name the owner and the first check-in date. Confirm the not doing list. |
| 0:55 – 1:00 | Capture & close | Save the Outcome Brief. Share where it lives. Set the next session date. |
Opening words
“Today we are turning one vague thing into one clear thing. We picked [project X] because it has been stalling. By the end of the hour, we will have an Outcome Brief we can actually point at the rest of the quarter.”
The teach (about 15 minutes)
- Outcome versus task. A task is something we do. An outcome is what should be true when the work is done. Read aloud from the Glossary: Task: make a report. Outcome: leaders can see blocked orders each Friday and act before delays grow.
- Definition of done. “Done” means a specific, observable thing. If two reasonable people could disagree on whether it is done, it is not yet defined.
- Clear goals. Use the pattern: We will improve [thing] so that [result]. We will know it worked when [measure]. The measure matters. A goal without a measure is a wish.
- Tradeoffs. Strategy is choice. Naming what we will not focus on is part of the goal — not a separate exercise.
The phrase to plant:
A goal without a measure is a wish. A goal without tradeoffs is a wish list.
The exercise (about 25 minutes)
- Read the project aloud (3 min). Have the project’s current owner describe the project in their own words. Do not interrupt yet.
- Rewrite as an outcome (10 min). As a group, fill in the Outcome
Brief on screen or on paper:
- the outcome sentence
- the measure
- the owner
- the first check-in date
- what we are choosing not to focus on
- Pressure-test the measure (10 min). Ask: Could a neutral observer from outside the team tell whether this outcome was met? If the answer is no, the measure is still soft. Rewrite it.
- Lock the not-doing list (2 min). Name at least one specific thing this project will not try to solve this quarter.
Scenario for this session
Use this scenario as the day’s case if the team did not bring a real one. It is written generic enough to apply across any of our businesses.
The starting situation
A recurring monthly report has been late three months in a row. The deliverer assumed it was low priority because of other work. The receiver assumed it was on track because nothing had been said. The Asana task is open with no comments. The original due date in the ticket has not been changed; the team has just been quietly missing it.
Nobody has formally acknowledged the slip. The team has agreed informally that the report “should be done soon,” but nobody has named what done actually means or when soon is.
What the group should produce
A completed Outcome Brief for this recurring deliverable, with these specific moves:
- Rewrite the work as an outcome, not a task. “Produce the monthly report” is a task; the outcome is whatever the report is meant to make possible (a decision, a visible signal, a compliance need).
- Pressure-test the measure. “The report exists” is not a useful measure. What signal does the report’s content produce? Who acts on it?
- Name the ‘not doing’ line. What is this report intentionally not trying to cover? If everything is in scope, the report will keep slipping.
- Set a real check-in date, not a soft one.
Where this goes wrong
The most common failure: the group settles on a measure like “the report is delivered by the fifth of each month.” That is a deadline, not an outcome measure. If the report is delivered on time but nobody reads it, the work was wasted. Push the group past deadline-as-measure to what becomes true when the report lands.
Closing words
“[Owner] now owns this. The next check-in is [date]. We are not trying to fix [the excluded thing] in this round. If anyone disagrees with the measure or the tradeoff, say so now — not in three weeks.”
Common derailments and how to redirect
| If you hear or see… | Then say… |
|---|---|
| “Improve customer experience” or similar abstract phrasing | “What is the specific result? Who notices first when it improves?” |
| A measure that requires guessing or interpretation | “Could a neutral observer tell? If not, what is the simplest measurable signal?” |
| The group keeps adding things to scope | “If this is in scope, what comes off? We cannot add without subtracting.” |
| Two people disagree on what “done” means | “Good. We need to settle this here, not in a stand-up next month.” |
| Silence on the not doing list | “If everything is in scope, the goal is too big. Name one thing we are postponing.” |
Output
One completed Outcome Brief for a real project the team is starting. Owner, measure, check-in date, and a not doing line are all filled in.
Facilitator notes
- Avoid abstract examples. Use a real, current project. The Outcome Brief is a real deliverable, not a worksheet.
- If the team gets stuck on the measure, that is a signal that the goal is still vague. Sit with it; do not paper over it.
- If the not doing line is empty, the goal is probably still too big.
The week before
- Pick the project ahead of time. Tell the project’s likely owner so they can arrive ready to describe it. Do not surprise them in the room.
- Read the Outcome Brief template in advance so you can answer questions about the fields.
The week after
- The named owner should send the Outcome Brief to everyone in the session within 48 hours.
- Put the first check-in date on calendars before Session 3.
- At Session 3, briefly revisit: did the not doing list hold? If not, what changed and why?