Throughout my many years as a values-driven leader and transformation facilitator in the tech industry, I have witnessed firsthand the challenges organizations face in setting clear, meaningful goals and in operating in a manner that consistently delivers real value. The absence of measurable, meaningful objectives often creates a gap between vision, execution, and the tangible value that organizations aspire to achieve.

When reflecting on the late 1990s and early 2000s, the prevailing approach centered on large-scale projects. These projects were guided by business cases that could take months—if not years—to develop. Once established, these cases were treated as immutable frameworks for governance and decision-making. This rigidity persisted despite new insights, changing circumstances, and emerging needs that inevitably arose during the lifespan of the project.

Today, organizations have largely moved toward more modern methodologies: agile principles, iterative development, and incremental delivery are now commonplace. Yet, the fundamental problem remains unresolved. Many organizations have indeed moved away from rigid project control and embraced “fail fast” principles, but pitfalls persist. The core issue? Their focus often remains on delivering outputs or completing tasks rather than creating genuine value.

Three Approaches: Activity-Driven, Outcome-Driven, and Value-Driven

Activity-Driven:

In activity-driven organizations, the absence of clear goals, direction, or strategy reigns. Instead, these entities operate under vague and overly broad ambitions that are nearly impossible to measure or translate into concrete, comprehensible terms. Without a shared understanding of what must be accomplished, leaders and teams frequently reinterpret the overarching objectives according to their own perspectives. This leads to fragmented efforts and a lack of alignment across the organization, ultimately resulting in scarce genuine value creation. One often sees continuous attempts to justify one’s own activities to others, as it can be difficult to discern any coherent purpose behind various endeavors spread throughout the organization.

Over time, such organizations may find themselves in a vacuum, having lost sight of their overarching vision and purpose. The outcome is often a collection of internal projects and activities that neither fit together nor meet stakeholders’ expectations. This scenario tends to culminate in disappointment, poor communication, and, ultimately, the need for a complete restructuring of what might once have been a strategically significant domain.

Outcome-Driven:

As organizations shift away from an activity-driven model, they often become outcome-driven. Here, objectives are clear, and there is a concrete understanding of what must be delivered. This transition constitutes a significant advance: it enables improved planning, risk analysis, and resource allocation. Furthermore, outcome-driven work facilitates more holistic collaboration across organizational boundaries. When it is evident what must be delivered and what to expect from other parts of the organization, transparency and cooperation increase. All segments of the organization can now strive toward the same goal.

However, even outcome-driven approaches can fall short of generating the intended value. Though the organization may deliver the “widget,” the solution, or the desired change, it may not result in the longed-for value—value that was never fully defined or aligned to begin with. The focus remains on the solution rather than on the transformation, the broader change, or the underlying value it was supposed to bring about.

Value-Driven:

In a value-driven approach, the ultimate goal is not to construct systems, implement changes, or solve isolated problems. The exclusive purpose is to create authentic value. Once that value is clearly defined, the organization can determine which activities and transformations are necessary to achieve it. Should new insights emerge, opportunities arise, conditions shift, or uncontrollable risks appear, decisions are consistently revisited and recalibrated against the criterion of value creation. Moreover, the organization continuously considers whether it still makes sense to proceed along the chosen path.

Working in a value-driven manner demands a mature mindset and approach. It requires robust structures and processes to continually evaluate one’s position within the value creation lifecycle. Finally, it takes courage to halt and decline further investment when data and evidence indicate that the expected value is no longer attainable. Such a stance can challenge many organizations and leaders, as it may be perceived as admitting a prior misjudgment.

The Challenges of Becoming Value-Driven

One of the greatest obstacles to becoming a value-driven organization lies in the ability to set priorities realistically at all levels. Many organizations struggle to balance their ambitions against the actual resources and capacities available. This imbalance can lead to the establishment of goals that are either unrealistic or too diffuse, causing frustration and inefficiency throughout the organization.

When objectives are overly ambitious without a clear connection to the organization’s true capabilities, the entity often ends up working on far too many initiatives simultaneously. This disperses effort, complicates delivery of high-quality outcomes, and often reveals gaps in processes linking executive-level strategy to operational execution. Consequently, a gulf may emerge between those who set the goals and those responsible for actualizing them.

I have also encountered instances where even clearly defined goals were not realistically attainable. This misalignment may stem from underestimating complexity, lacking the necessary resources or competencies, or other contextual factors. When this cycle repeats, employees and leadership lose faith in the achievability of targets, resulting in stagnation and demotivation.

Another prevalent issue is the difficulty organizations have in saying “no.” They attempt to tackle too many priorities at once, and without clear, enforced prioritization, resources become spread too thin across numerous projects. This environment makes it nearly impossible to focus on what truly creates value and leaves the organization in a perpetual state of firefighting.

What drives your organization

Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to determine what drives your organization