How do you measure success?
Measuring features is easy. It’s binary. You shipped it or you didn’t. Because it’s easy to measure, it’s easy to manage. Alternatively, giving teams problems to solve without dictating a specific solution means they determine the best way to achieve that with success determined by a desired outcome.
An outcome is a measurable change in customer behavior. This is a variable range and therefore more difficult to measure. Subsequently, managing to outcomes becomes more difficult because the clarity of a binary choice is lost. Because of this many companies resist this approach. And yet, time and again, teams that get to choose what solutions they work on build more successful products, work more efficiently and are generally happier at work.