This table provides some useful definitions of terms and examples for results-based strategic design. The Southwest Airlines examples provide a clear way to remember the differences among results, strategies, activities, and other terms.
| Result | Strategy | Innovation | Activities | Prototypes | Milestones | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Definition | A desired new outcome that produces a measurable gain for the organization and/or its constituents | Behavior-changing means to the result; needed when result cannot be produced by current habits and tradition | Doing something new that will make the organization better, producing a result that can’t be achieved by business as usual | The specific things we do to make the strategy happen | An activity that can be done quickly to test and improve the strategy’s critical concepts | Points along the way that will tell us how we are progressing toward the result |
| Criteria for a good one | An end, not a means | A means that will clearly achieve the end | Involves significantly different behavior | Clearly oriented toward strategy and result | Can be done quickly | Provides clear measurement of results to date |
| You can clearly tell when it’s been achieved | Will have definable milestones of achievement along the way | Will make things better, not just different | Can be done relatively quickly | Effectively tests critical concepts | Quantifiable | |
| Achievement of the result = a definite change for the better | Will produce results in a short amount of time | A better means of achieving a result than current means | Can be organized by a small group of people | Can be real (e.g., small fundraising campaign) or virtual (e.g., mock-up one-stop shop) | ||
| Shows a clear understanding of constituents’ needs | Can be taken on by early adopters; does not require consensus | Not innovation for innovation’s sake | ||||
| Example (Southwest Airlines) | Get people who now ride buses to ride planes | Reduce gate time | Changed behavior at all levels of organization | Clean planes in the air | ||
| Example (University) | Decrease dependence on tuition revenue to 75% | Increase revenue from grants, philanthropy, auxiliary operations by leverage grants, philanthropy, and other income in a unified way | Operate Advancement office with lean manufacturing techniques (fewer steps in each process) | Hire grants coordinator and write grants; promote cases for support to likely donors; sell more stuff in bookstore and promote it. | Limited campaign for a fundraising project (e.g., renovation of entrance room to main building) | Cost per-dollar raised to national standard in one year; annual reduction in tuition revenue percentage |