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Comment by thenerdhead | Hacker News Reader

I think for people who don’t agree with the article, perhaps seeking jobs that are outcome based are ideal. For those that are output based, I think it’s totally reasonable to cut back strategically.

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It's funny, ever since I dedicated the morning to normal duties and afternoons to growth and development, I deliver results faster. Could be that I only use 4 hours to do all my work so I plan better and action faster.

Yeah exactly. Knowledge work is much less about the actual work we do. We're regularly on the clock having our brains work whether we like it or not. This focused and diffused time is crucial to be effective.

Why the difference? Most places that talk about outcomes are really measuring outputs, just with more secret sauce in how it's measured (still based on the perception of the bosses).

Most places that measure outputs are not driving business results, they are measuring the wrong things and even promoting the wrong people.

Outputs = Productivity. How much stuff you do.

Outcomes = Efficiency. How much useful stuff you do.

Don't aim to get more stuff done (productivity), rather aim to have less stuff to do (focus / efficiency). Do more with less. Frequent activity & context switching is hardly tied to achievement.

I'm aiming to keep my job. So until the bosses actually start measuring outcome, I'm stuck with output.

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