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Commit To Actions, Measure Outcomes

Summary

In this episode of Developer Tea, host Jonathan Cottrell explores the common feeling of being overwhelmed by responsibilities and commitments. He suggests that much of this overwhelm is self-inflicted, as we often take on too much and struggle to say no. However, he identifies a deeper, more structural problem: the way we frame our commitments.

Cottrell argues that we frequently commit to outcomes—desired end results—rather than to the specific actions required to move toward those outcomes. The problem with committing to outcomes is that we often have limited direct control over them. External factors, competing priorities, and the complexity of life can derail even the best-laid plans, leading to frustration and a sense of failure when outcomes aren’t met.

The core solution proposed is a mental shift: translate commitments into scheduled actions. Instead of promising an outcome (e.g., “I will finish this project”), commit to a concrete, time-blocked action (e.g., “I will work on this project from 2-4 PM on Tuesday”). This approach grounds our commitments in what we can directly control: our time and effort. It reduces cognitive overhead by simplifying priority management—you simply work on the scheduled action—and aligns with agile principles of continuous work on the most important task.

While acknowledging that this approach may face pushback in traditional workplace cultures geared toward outcome-based promises, Cottrell encourages both managers and individual contributors to adopt this practice where possible. By focusing on actionable commitments, work becomes more about collaboration and relationship-building than about risky outcome management, ultimately leading to less overwhelm and a greater sense of agency in how we spend our days.

Recommendations

Tools

  • Abstract — A design workflow platform sponsored in the episode. It acts as a single source of truth for design files, version control, feedback, and developer handoff, used by companies like Microsoft and Spotify.

Topic Timeline

  • 00:00:00 — Introducing the feeling of overwhelming responsibility — Jonathan Cottrell asks listeners to mentally confront the weight of their many responsibilities. He frames the episode’s core question: why do our commitments seem to outrun our cognitive ability to process and fulfill them? He introduces himself and the podcast’s mission to help developers find clarity and purpose.
  • 00:01:45 — How our choices create commitments that collide — Cottrell notes that while some responsibilities are forced upon us (like taxes), most are the result of our choices. He explains that making a commitment is choosing a responsibility. The problem arises when multiple commitments—like to our job and to being a good friend—have competing priorities, creating a complex matrix that becomes cognitively overwhelming to manage.
  • 00:04:38 — The nuance of overwhelm: committing to outcomes vs. actions — After a sponsor break, Cottrell delves deeper into the cause of overwhelm. Beyond simply taking on too much, he identifies a critical flaw: we often commit to outcomes rather than actions. Outcomes are frequently outside our direct control. When we make multiple commitments to uncertain outcomes, we compound our stress and set ourselves up for potential failure.
  • 00:06:26 — The solution: translate commitments to calendar events — Cottrell presents the episode’s key takeaway: when making a commitment, translate it into a scheduled action on your calendar—not just a deadline, but the specific block of time you will dedicate to the work. This shifts focus to what you can control (your time and effort) and makes your commitments explicit and manageable. He connects this to agile software development’s principle of continuously working on the most important thing.
  • 00:08:05 — Implementing the practice and managing pushback — Cottrell acknowledges that this mindset shift is challenging and may face resistance, especially in workplaces accustomed to outcome-based promises. He encourages both managers and individual contributors to establish this practice where they can. He concludes by stating that focusing on actionable commitments can transform how you view work and reduce feelings of being overwhelmed.

Episode Info

  • Podcast: Developer Tea
  • Author: Jonathan Cutrell
  • Category: Technology Business Careers Society & Culture
  • Published: 2019-11-22T10:00:00Z
  • Duration: 00:09:30

References

Podcast Info

Transcript

[00:00:00] I want you to take a moment and think about the many responsibilities you have.

[00:00:10] And intentionally, if you’re comfortable with it, allow this feeling, this weight of responsibility

[00:00:17] to start to overwhelm your ability to kind of manage it all, to process all of the responsibilities.

[00:00:27] How do we end up in a place where our responsibilities, or maybe more accurately, our commitments seem

[00:00:37] to outrun our cognitive ability to even process them, much less fulfill them?

[00:00:44] That’s what we’re talking about in today’s episode.

[00:00:46] My name is Jonathan Cottrell.

[00:00:48] You’re listening to Developer Tea, and my goal on this show is to help driven developers

[00:00:51] like you find clarity, perspective, and purpose in their careers.

[00:00:55] So, you’ve probably felt this at work, you’ve probably felt it at home, maybe with your

[00:01:01] family, you probably even felt it when you were younger, perhaps when you were in school,

[00:01:07] or maybe you’re in school now, and all of the things that you have to do, all of your

[00:01:11] assignments, they feel overwhelming.

[00:01:14] And much of this we bring on ourselves.

[00:01:18] All of the responsibilities that we have, we choose them to some degree.

[00:01:24] Some responsibilities are forced on us, like, for example, paying taxes, but for the most

[00:01:30] part, we choose how we relate to the world around us, and many of our choices are what

[00:01:38] cause, or what our responsibilities are a result of.

[00:01:45] And so, when we make choices about responsibilities, really what we’re doing is we’re committing

[00:01:52] ourselves to those responsibilities.

[00:01:54] But here’s what often happens.

[00:01:58] We make a single commitment because it seems reasonable, and then we make another commitment,

[00:02:04] and the two commitments may collide.

[00:02:08] They may have some competing priorities.

[00:02:11] For example, we commit to fulfill our job duties, and then we also commit to being a good friend.

[00:02:18] But sometimes our job comes in the way of being a good friend, or maybe sometimes being a good friend

[00:02:24] comes in the way of our jobs.

[00:02:27] And even if we prioritize these things, the matrix that we would have to understand, once again,

[00:02:35] can cognitively overwhelm us.

[00:02:38] In today’s episode, I want to discuss a way that you can think about your commitments differently

[00:02:43] so that you’re not as overwhelmed, and instead you can live, hopefully, more day-to-day,

[00:02:51] rather than feeling like your days are kind of running,

[00:02:54] the show.

[00:02:56] Before we talk about that, I want to talk about today’s sponsor, Abstract.

[00:03:02] Designers today spend a frustrating amount of hours searching for files, consolidating feedback

[00:03:07] from multiple sources, never really knowing what changes have been incorporated and approved.

[00:03:12] And while we’ve come a long way from having to email Photoshop files, we still haven’t really

[00:03:19] found that single source of truth.

[00:03:23] Developers have had this for a while.

[00:03:24] We have version control with GitHub, but it’s not until Abstract came along, created by Twitter’s

[00:03:32] principal designer, former Twitter principal designer, Josh Brewer.

[00:03:36] Abstract acts as that single source of truth for design work.

[00:03:40] This brings all of your design workflow into a single, unified place.

[00:03:44] And it’s not just for designers.

[00:03:45] Developers can come, as well as stakeholders, to provide feedback on that work.

[00:03:51] Companies that you’ve certainly heard of, like Microsoft, Microsoft, Microsoft, Microsoft, Microsoft,

[00:03:54] Spotify, Cisco, and thousands of others across 75 countries, already rely on Abstract to improve

[00:04:01] their design workflows and to increase collaboration across functions in their teams.

[00:04:06] And with Abstract, you can version your design files, present work, request reviews, collect

[00:04:11] feedback, and you can give developers direct access to all the specs, all from one place.

[00:04:18] With Abstract, you’ll spend less time searching for design files and tracking down feedback,

[00:04:22] and spend more time focusing on innovation and collaboration.

[00:04:27] Sign your team up for a free 14-day trial by going to www.abstract.com.

[00:04:35] Thanks again to Abstract for sponsoring today’s episode.

[00:04:38] There’s a nuance in the discussion about why we feel overwhelmed.

[00:04:45] Sure, it’s absolutely possible that you’re quite simply taking on too much.

[00:04:50] Many times that is true.

[00:04:52] And we don’t say no, generally speaking, often enough.

[00:04:58] This is both a cultural and a human thing, fundamental to our being, but also something

[00:05:05] that has been kind of exacerbated by our always-on kind of availability and our culture

[00:05:14] of being a part of everything we can possibly be a part of.

[00:05:18] And so saying no feels like a rare instance.

[00:05:21] But beyond the fact that many of us are taking on too much, sometimes the way that we make

[00:05:29] commitments can cause the problem.

[00:05:33] More specifically, we often commit to outcomes rather than actions.

[00:05:40] And this is what we need to flip on its head, because we don’t have direct control over

[00:05:46] outcomes.

[00:05:47] We might commit to drive towards an outcome.

[00:05:51] But at the end of the day, if we make commitments to outcomes that we fundamentally cannot control,

[00:05:58] and as many of these different commitments kind of collide into each other, and many of them end up

[00:06:05] being out of our control, then we end up compounding the problem.

[00:06:11] We don’t necessarily understand what we’re committing to if we commit to an outcome,

[00:06:17] but if we can commit to an action.

[00:06:19] If we can commit to happiness.

[00:06:21] we will spend our time. And the way that I want you to think about this, the takeaway from this

[00:06:26] episode is, when you make a commitment, translate your commitments to calendar events. And no,

[00:06:33] I don’t mean a deadline on your calendar. I mean the action that you will take to fulfill

[00:06:39] that commitment. This seems reductive, but at the end of the day, the way you spend your time

[00:06:46] is reflective of the commitments that you’ve made. And perhaps more explicitly, the way you

[00:06:53] spend your time is the commitments that you’ve made. Instead of committing to something that

[00:07:00] you can’t control, you commit to something that is at least more in your control. You commit to

[00:07:07] actions. You commit to actually doing something specific. This is the heart of many

[00:07:15] organizations.

[00:07:16] of the original promises of agile software development, and that is working on the most

[00:07:22] important thing continuously. If we make a commitment to working on the most important

[00:07:29] thing, much of the management that we otherwise have to do is eliminated. We won’t get into every

[00:07:36] detail here in this episode of how that would happen and how you might be able to avoid setting

[00:07:43] unrealistic goals or engaging in a death march. Instead, you can focus on collaborating.

[00:07:50] You focus on making commitments to actions rather than outcomes. The work becomes more

[00:07:58] about relationships than it does about risk management. Thank you for listening to today’s

[00:08:05] episode of Developer Tea. Obviously, this is a challenging way of thinking about commitments,

[00:08:10] and it’s not something that you can do overnight.

[00:08:13] Most employers are wired to operate a different way than this, and it’s reasonable to expect that

[00:08:22] you’ll have pushback on this concept. But if you as a manager can establish this practice,

[00:08:29] and if you can, as an individual contributor, if you can find a way in your life to establish this

[00:08:36] as often as possible, you’re very likely to see the way that you think about work,

[00:08:43] and the way you think about being overwhelmed much differently.

[00:08:46] Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode. Thank you again to Abstract for

[00:08:49] sponsoring today’s episode. Start your team’s free 14-day trial by heading over to www.abstract.com.

[00:08:59] Today’s episode and every other episode of Developer Tea can be found at spec.fm.

[00:09:04] That is the network that Developer Tea is a part of. Head over to spec.fm to find other shows like

[00:09:10] Developer Tea that are designed for developers.

[00:09:12] Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode of Developer Tea. I’ll see you next time.

[00:09:13] Designers and developers who are looking to level up in their careers.

[00:09:17] Today’s episode was produced by Sarah Jackson. My name is Jonathan Cottrell,

[00:09:20] and until next time, enjoy your tea.

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