At Planview Connect 2025, Planview CTO and author of Project to Product, Dr. Mik Kersten shared a preview of his upcoming book, Output to Outcome, and introduced a set of ideas that are already reshaping how organizations think about strategy, delivery, and value.
In a world where coding, tools, and compute are less of a bottleneck than ever, many organizations discover that their greatest constraint is alignment. Projects are delivered, features ship, yet the actual business value, customer impact, or strategic outcomes still feel elusive.
Mik introduced the Outcome Tree, a model for connecting strategy to delivery and outcomes. In the sections that follow, we will look at why it matters now and then break down exactly how it works. In the age of super intelligence, where AI and agentic systems are already changing how work gets done, outcome orientation is becoming a decisive advantage.
“Coding is no longer going to be the constraint over the coming years. Really, the constraint will now be organizational productivity.”
Mik Kersten
In his keynote, Mik Kersten shares his views on how leading organizations are shifting into an output-to-outcome world, and why an Outcome Tree is key to unlocking productivity gains.
Why Output to Outcome Matters Now
The world is shifting rapidly. We are in a period of creative destruction, waiting for that turning point after which those who figured out how to align work to outcomes will see generational gains. Relying solely on outputs such as feature counts, roadmaps, and plan completions is increasingly risky. Outputs are easy to deliver, but they do not guarantee value.
As Mik explained at Planview Connect, large language models are already lifting the coding constraint. That means the real bottleneck is organizational productivity: how quickly a company can align its strategy, budgets, and delivery to outcomes. The Outcome Tree is one way to solve this alignment problem and avoid falling behind in what Mik calls the age of super intelligence.
“Leading organizations will not be twice as productive. They will be ten times more productive, because it will become so easy to create value.”
Mik Kersten
Organizations that thrive in this shift are those already working within a product operating model. The Outcome Tree makes that model practical: it allows leaders to connect the product operating model principles of outcome orientation and flow optimization directly into their daily decision-making.
Read Next: The Case for Adopting a Product Operating Model
Anatomy of an Outcome Tree
Here is what makes up an Outcome Tree and how the parts fit together:
- Inputs: Strategy, Budget, High-Level OKRs (Objectives and Key Results)
- Outputs: Plans, Initiatives, Roadmaps that operationalize those inputs
- Flow: The work as it moves from conception to completion, including feedback loops, how outputs turn into outcomes
- Outcomes: The real impact, such as value delivered to customers, market growth, cost savings, or strategic wins
- Feedback Loop: Outcomes feed back into strategy and budgeting; if outcomes are not hitting, the inputs adjust
“The Outcome Tree applies to each level as you go all the way from the top-level organization down to the agile teams. There is a consistent set of OKRs that flows all the way down, and outcomes are always tracked moving back up.”
Mik Kersten
Building Your Own Outcome Tree
Here is a four-step path you can begin implementing now to build your own Outcome Tree.
Step 1: Start with Strategy and OKRs
Define your strategic objectives in a MECE way (mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive). Make sure they are clear, measurable, and owned. Avoid vague shared objectives that dilute accountability.
Step 2: Map Outputs to Outcomes
For every roadmap item or plan, ask, “What outcome does this drive?” If you cannot tie it to a measurable outcome, consider de-prioritizing it.
Step 3: Instrument Flow
Track work in motion. Which parts of your delivery chain are slowing down? How fast are feature requests or ideas moving from backlog into production into value realization? Flow metrics are the bridge between what you commit and what is delivered.
Step 4: Close the Loop
Set a regular cadence for reviewing outcomes against strategy and budget. If outcomes are underperforming, reallocate resources. If value streams — equivalent to product lines — are overdelivering, double down.
“With a proper Outcome Tree, you get empowered ownership at each level. Everyone knows exactly what they own, and the structure is mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive.”
Mik Kersten
Anti-Patterns to Avoid
These are a few common anti-patterns to watch for when you’re creating an Outcome Tree:
- Shared or muddied OKRs where nobody has real ownership, leading to diluted focus
- Vanity metrics, such as the number of features shipped or velocity gains that do not translate to value
- Disconnected cadences where separate gatherings and reporting structures (QBR, Program Increment planning [PI planning], agile sprints) are not aligned
What Good Looks Like
When done well, your Outcome Tree enables:
- Every team tracing work back to a strategic OKR
- Budgets flowing toward outcomes, not just across cost centers
- Unified cadence with planning, execution, and reporting all speaking the same language
- Leadership visibility into what is working, what is not, and the power to pivot
“In the product operating model, you have this unified cadence where business and technology plan as one. That is what good looks like.”
Mik Kersten
Wrapping it Up
To thrive in today’s age, where AI and agentic systems are already reducing technical bottlenecks, the spotlight shifts to how organizations align themselves around outcomes. An Outcome Tree provides the structure to connect strategy to execution, clarity about what matters, and a feedback loop that adapts as you learn.
Read Next: Why Your AI Tools Aren’t Working Yet
Where to next?
If you want to dig deeper into making your enterprise outcome-based and see how others are doing it, Planview has created a resource that walks you through the approach step by step.
Download our eBook: Creating the Outcome-Based Enterprise to discover the five key pillars that form the foundation of an outcome-based enterprise. Plus: Get detailed assessments to uncover exactly where your organization stands today and your next steps forward.
