Delivery Success and Outcome Success

Delivery success is completion on time, on budget, and within scope. Outcome success is the realized value the change was meant to produce.

Why do projects succeed and still fail?

The two can diverge completely: a change can be delivered successfully and still fail to produce the value that justified it. Outcome success must be measured as realized value, not as attainment of the target, because stronger delivery moves a change closer to its target whether or not that target was worth attaining.

What it is not

Not two points on one scale. They are separate judgments, and treating the first as evidence of the second is the vulnerability named assumed success.

Where it sits

This divergence is the phenomenon the Intent Integrity framework explains. Delivery success reflects execution; outcome success reflects both the direction chosen and how it was executed.

Related concepts

• Intent Integrity: The divergence of the two is the phenomenon intent integrity explains.
• Execution: Delivery success reflects execution; outcome success reflects both the direction chosen and the execution of it.
• Assumed Success: Treating delivery success as evidence of outcome success is the vulnerability named assumed success.