Stop Measuring Activity: Why Only Output Counts (Even If You Work Like Crazy)

There’s a natural urge to equate busyness with effectiveness. When your calendar is packed, emails pour in, and your to-do list never ends, it feels like work must be getting done. But step back and ask, what exactly is being accomplished? In every arena—from school administration to software engineering, from household management to football coaching—the people with true influence don’t just work hard, they direct their efforts toward delivering results that matter beyond themselves.

Take for example the principal who spends all her time answering emails, organizing events, and putting out fires, yet rarely checks in on classroom learning or supports teacher development. The outward activity is huge, but unless those actions lead to better educational outcomes for students, her real output is low. Similarly, a product manager might attend countless meetings and write dozens of reports, but if the team’s feature releases stall or miss quality targets, that activity is irrelevant from an output perspective.

It’s surprisingly easy to fall into ‘activity traps’—doing what’s familiar or what others expect, rather than what most moves the needle. The first step to breaking this cycle is recognizing it: output is not measured by how many hours you spend or how many checkboxes you tick, but by the actual, valuable result generated by your group. This is the heart of managerial leverage—the idea that your real output is the combined impact you create through others, not just personal effort.

Understanding this distinction is grounded in behavioral science’s focus on outcomes versus process. Studies repeatedly show that groups and individuals who define clear, externalized goals, then align activities to these, consistently outperform those fixated on process alone.

Start by identifying the core product, service, or result your team or group exists to produce, whether it's students learning, customers served, or household harmony. Compare how you spend your time each day to that end result. Eliminate or hand off at least one regular task that doesn't directly help the group achieve its main output, and redirect that effort to something with visible impact. This week, make it a habit to pause before starting any activity and ask: 'Is this truly driving results for my group, or just keeping me busy?' Give it a try tonight.