What should we spend our time on?

This question comes up in data teams and business teams alike.

During leadership meetings, sprint reviews, and one-on-one with managers.

We try to define what is valuable and so we ask:

“What should we be spending our time on?”

I've asked myself that many times.

Yet, time is a cheap metric for value.

“Spending time” on something doesn't produce value.

It's actually shorthand something else.

We assume if we are spending time on something, then we will be producing a valuable output.

So we spend weeks or months creating systems and policies around “tracking time”.

When that was never the goal.

The real goal is to create valuable output. So instead of tracking time and hoping, praying, dreaming that we get the output we want…

Let's skip the shorthand and track output first.

Thanks for being here,

Sawyer

from The Data Shop

p.s. The opposite is true for personal life. Time spent is a great measurement. Time spent reading books to your kids, going on a walk with your partner, mountain biking, playing an instrument, etc. Those activities are done for the joy of it - please don’t try to measure output. Happy Friday - enjoy this weekend.