What is Value?

In the realm of product management, “value” is often discussed but rarely defined with the clarity it deserves. At its core, value is the ability to improve and impact the current reality of a customer. It’s not about the prettiness of your deliverables or the meticulousness of your documentation—it’s about creating tangible outcomes that transform how customers experience the world.

The Difference Between Menus and Meals

Imagine dining at a restaurant. The beautifully designed menu teases with promises of delightful dishes. However, if the meal served fails to satisfy or create a memorable experience, the menu’s allure becomes meaningless. Similarly, in product management, gorgeous specifications and polished PowerPoint decks are the menus. They outline possibilities and articulate plans, but they aren’t the meals. The real substance comes from the actual impact these plans have on a customer’s life.

• Menus (Outputs): These are the deliverables—specifications, designs, presentations—that provide clarity on what is intended.
• Meals (Outcomes): These are the actual results. They are the improvements, the efficiency gains, and the enhanced experiences that customers enjoy.

If we focus solely on outputs without paying attention to the outcomes, we risk missing the point entirely. Our job is not to create beautiful documents for their own sake, but to drive meaningful change.

From Outputs to Outcomes

Many product managers fall into the trap of equating activity with progress. They become enamored with the creation of extensive documents and polished slides, believing that these outputs signal success. However, without a direct line of sight to the outcomes—the real, positive shifts in customer reality—our efforts may end up being impressive on paper but ineffective in practice.

To truly deliver value, we must:

• Prioritize Impact: Ask yourself, “How will this feature or specification change the way a customer works, feels, or succeeds?”
• Measure Outcomes: Track metrics that matter, such as customer satisfaction, engagement, and long-term business benefits. It’s these numbers that truly validate our efforts.
• Stay Outcome-Oriented: Regularly reassess and pivot based on feedback. Clinging to a document that once promised a breakthrough but no longer aligns with customer needs is a surefire way to lose relevance.

The Role of Clarity in Driving Action

Clarity is the bridge between vision and execution. Wonderful documents and detailed specifications are valuable tools only because they provide clarity. They help align teams, set expectations, and serve as a reference point during the tumultuous journey of product development. But the ultimate goal isn’t to maintain clarity for its own sake—it’s to empower teams to take decisive, informed actions that bring about a new reality for customers.

Consider these strategies to ensure clarity translates into action:

• Define Clear Objectives: Start every project with a clear statement of the intended impact. What does success look like from the customer’s perspective?
• Communicate Transparently: Ensure that every stakeholder understands not just what is being built, but why it matters. This shared vision drives collaboration and innovation.
• Iterate and Improve: Use clarity as a starting point, but always remain open to refining your approach. The landscape changes, and so do customer needs. Iterative feedback loops ensure that clarity evolves into meaningful progress.

Creating a New Reality

Ultimately, value is measured by the transformation it brings about. As product managers, our mission is to turn ideas into actions that reshape customer experiences. It’s about moving from theoretical blueprints to real-world results. Every beautiful specification or compelling slide should be viewed through the lens of the impact it can drive. When we focus on outcomes rather than just outputs, we empower our teams to create products that not only meet expectations but exceed them.

In conclusion, value isn’t just an abstract concept or a metric on a dashboard—it’s the very essence of meaningful innovation. By shifting our focus from outputs to outcomes, and by harnessing the power of clarity to drive action, we can truly make a difference in our customers’ lives. And that, in the end, is what real value is all about.