Outcome Delivery Framework

I recently read the book, “IoT Inc: How Your Company Can Use the Internet of Things to Win in the Outcome Economy by Bruce Sinclair”. One of the early chapters in the book looks at business modelling. Sinclair writes about the five types of business models, starting with the “Product” business model, transitioning to the “Service” business model and concluding with the “Outcome” business model.

A simple example to illustrate the difference, is someone purchasing an electric drill, drill bit and a ladder to hang a picture in their lounge. They can of course purchase (product business model) all the necessary components, learn how to do it and then actually carry out the work. Alternatively, they can hire the equipment for an afternoon and perform the work without actually needing to own any of the equipment; they may even engage the services of a handy-person to visit the house, set up a ladder, choose the right drill bit and drill the hole. But is this actually the outcome the person is after? No, they want a picture hanging on the wall. In this model, someone needs to not only create the hole, but ensure the picture is suitably framed and has a wire attached for hanging. The hole in the wall needs to contain a hook that’s secure and of course the picture needs to be level and at the right height. Finally, all the mess associated with the job needs to be removed, returning the room to its original clean state.

Discovering what a person or organisation really wants as an outcome, will not only enable you and your team to play a more significant role in that outcome, but helps to build trust, understanding and should lead to a better, cheaper, faster - well, maybe only two - solution to the problem.

At Red Hat Consulting, we leverage the Outcome Delivery framework when helping customers. The framework consists of three phases:

• Discovery - to generate the Outcomes
• Options - to identify how to get there
• Delivery - to implement and put your ideas to the test. Learn what works and what doesn’t.

These are connected with an Mobius infinity loop. In addition to this is a foundational layer to capture practices providing culture & collaboration and technical engineering. These combined, enable sustainable continuous delivery.

Want to know more? Check out the Open Practice Library to access and potentially contribute to a growing wealth of knowledge on product Discovery and Delivery practices.