I would furiously type 20 minutes nightly, and never got anywhere.

Searching writing advice on the Internet to improve my lackluster blogging cadence, I landed on some random advice that the key to writing success was to write for 20 minutes a night. Based on my work coaching teams in product thinking and Continuous Product Discovery, I've uncovered a crucial goal-setting distinction that can help writers maximize their effectiveness.

Unfortunately, many Digital Writers work on things for the wrong reasons.

Output-based goals are not what writers need to target

Output-based goals measure just that - the things we produce.

My original goal - type 20 minutes a night - was classic Output-based goal. Parallel examples of Output-based goals would be "write 1,000 words a day, every day;" "write 50 Tweets a day."

You get the picture. It's purely focusing on the "stuff" we do.

Digital Writers move from targeting Output to Outcomes

The truth is that, while these aren't inherently bad goals, authors could accomplish all of these Output-focused goals above, and not be any closer to the writing success they seek.

The goal is to set Outcomes-focused goals. What are Outcomes?

Jeff Gothelf defines Outcomes as:

Outcome is a measurable change in human behavior we see when we give the output to our [readers]. Outcome answers the question, “What are people doing differently now that we have delivered the output?”

Digital/Lean writers maximize their impact not by focusing on their Output, but targeting specific reader behavior-change Outcomes.

Always ask: What will readers be doing differently as a result of this (Tweet, Thread, Atomic Essay)? How will I know?

The foundations of Lean/Digital Writing are data-literacy, and Thinking Big, Starting Small, and Learning Fast - one writing example for this could be:

Tweet >> Twitter Thread >> Long-Form Article >> e-Book (etc.)

At each step, set goals and monitor reader behavior-change signals that signal when to go to the next level; i.e., if the Tweet engagement hits X, turn into a Thread; republish as an article; if that gets traction, continue through expanding and watching for signals.

Set & closely track Outcome goals for Lean/Digital Writing effectiveness.