In today’s lightning-fast business world, organizations seem obsessed with tracking systems and metrics. Story points in Agile? Oh yeah, that’s the good stuff. It’s like the holy grail of productivity, right? Except, oops—focusing on those little numbers and charts might not actually be the golden ticket to success. Who knew? While these tools are apparently “essential” for managing workflow, spoiler alert: they aren’t the end goal. Turns out, what organizations really need is to deliver actual value—something that, you know, drives growth, makes customers happy, or even (gasp!) affects the bottom line. But sure, let’s keep pretending story points alone are moving the needle.

The Problem with Worshiping Metrics Over Value

1. Misaligned Goals
Story points! Wonderful for telling you how much work is done, but not so great at telling you whether that work actually matters. You could finish every sprint on time, meticulously move through all the tasks, and still be exactly nowhere. Teams get so busy completing stories, they forget to ask the obvious: “Is this helping anyone at all?” Classic.

2. Metrics Are Not Always a True Measure of Success
Burn those story points, baby! Your team looks productive as heck. But then… nothing happens. Why? Because while you were focused on hitting those sweet, sweet metrics, you forgot to make something that actually solves problems, or—minor detail—adds value. Story points give you a number, but that number doesn’t care if your product is still garbage.

3. Encourages a Task-Oriented Culture
Obsessed with metrics? Congrats, you’ve successfully created a team that’s laser-focused on crossing things off their to-do lists. What you might be missing is whether those tasks mean anything to the larger picture. Instead of asking, “Does this help our business or customers in any way?” teams just ask, “Is it done yet?!” Priorities, right?

Shifting the Focus to (Gasp!) Real Value

1. Understand What Value Actually Means for Your Organization
Brace yourself: value is not universal. For some organizations, it could be something wild like “making customers happy,” while others might want to, I don’t know, cut costs or improve their products. Whatever it is, the goal is for your teams to figure out what your organization actually values. Imagine that! Then, when they’re checking things off, it’s not just busywork; it might actually be useful.

2. Involve Stakeholders (You Know, the People Who Care About Value)
Here’s a radical thought—maybe ask the stakeholders what they think adds value. These people usually know things like customer needs, market trends, or what’s actually important to the business. Novel concept, right? Engaging with them could ensure teams aren’t just plowing through a backlog of irrelevant tasks, but actually doing something that matters.

3. Shift from Output to Outcomes (Wait, We’re Supposed to Make a Difference?)
Forget about celebrating how many tasks you completed. The real party starts when you can point to an actual outcome. Like, say:

• Output-focused: “We finished 50 story points this sprint.”
• Outcome-focused: “We improved customer retention by 10%.”
  Now that’s something to celebrate. It’s almost like the work should achieve something other than just being done.

4. Leverage Feedback Loops (No, Not Just to Check if It’s Done)
Want to know if your work is valuable? Try asking for some feedback—preferably from the people it’s supposed to help. Customers, data insights, business performance metrics—whatever works. Fast feedback loops help you avoid delivering a whole lot of nothing and give you a chance to, you know, fix things before it’s too late.

5. Empower Teams to Actually Care About Value
Here’s an idea: instead of just tasking teams with mindlessly completing work, why not empower them to think about how to create real value? It might even spark some innovation. Teams that care about outcomes are way more likely to come up with better ideas and solutions. When they own the process, they’re not just ticking boxes—they’re driving results.

How to Pretend You’re Balancing Tracking Systems with Value Delivery

Sure, tracking systems and story points have their place. We wouldn’t want to throw away all that data, right? The key is to use them as tools—not trophies. It’s not about how many tasks you complete; it’s about whether those tasks matter. So here’s how to keep using your beloved tracking systems without missing the whole point:

• Use story points to measure progress, not success. They’re planning tools, not trophies. Sure, track velocity, but don’t pretend those numbers mean you’re doing anything useful.
• Create value-based metrics. Maybe, just maybe, track something that shows actual impact, like customer satisfaction or revenue growth. Just a thought.
• Regularly re-align the backlog with business value. Yes, this means that not all tasks are equal. If priorities shift, so should your work. Adjust the backlog accordingly—don’t just complete stories because they’re sitting there.

Conclusion

Delivering value is so much more than just moving through a process and collecting story points like Pokémon. Real value is tied to outcomes, not outputs. So, while tracking systems can help you manage workflows, they’re not your endgame. If you want to be truly impactful (and not just busy), focus on aligning your work with real business goals and outcomes. It’s almost like that’s the point.