You don’t build better software by shipping faster. You build it by shipping the right things, on purpose.
It’s easy to get wrapped up in shipping velocity — sprint points, ticket throughput, cycle time. They’re tangible, trackable, and they look great on a dashboard. But those are output metrics. And output doesn’t necessarily equal outcome.
In fact, one of the most common mistakes engineering teams make is focusing so hard on delivery speed that they forget to ask: Is this actually helping?
What This Looks Like in Practice
An engineering leader I worked with inherited a team known for their speed. They crushed sprints and consistently delivered features on time. But the product wasn’t improving. Users weren’t happier. Business results were flat.
So, this leader shifted the focus.
They started aligning the team’s work with measurable outcomes: customer retention, feature adoption, time-to-value. Instead of celebrating how fast something shipped, they celebrated the impact it made.
That small pivot changed everything.
The team’s roadmap got sharper. Engineers asked better questions. Business stakeholders got more involved. And — ironically — shipping velocity didn’t go down. It went up, because the team was shipping with confidence and clarity.
What To Do Instead
Velocity is fine as a health check, but it should never be the goal. The real goal? Outcomes that move the needle for your customers and your business.
✅ Try This:
- In your next sprint review, add a slide that connects your shipped work to a measurable customer or business impact.
- When planning, ask “What problem are we solving?” before you ask “How long will it take?”
- Introduce outcome-oriented metrics to your engineering scorecard — like time-to-first-value, NPS impact, or churn reduction.
Shipping code is output. Improving lives is outcome.
Make sure you’re aiming at the right target.
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This piece was originally published in my newsletter Beyond the Commit — where I share practical, real-world lessons on engineering leadership, scaling teams, and building products the right way.
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