Show the Value of What You Do

Show the Value of What You Do Plot Summary

Introduction

In today's fast-paced world, it's no longer enough to simply work hard and hope someone notices your efforts. Whether you're leading a team project, managing a department, or running your own business, demonstrating your true value has become essential for professional growth and organizational success. Yet many professionals struggle with a common challenge: how do you effectively measure and communicate the impact of your work in ways that resonate with decision-makers? The reality is that value creation happens at multiple levels - from immediate reactions to long-term organizational impact - but we often focus on just one level while neglecting the others. Throughout the following chapters, you'll discover a practical framework for defining, measuring, and showcasing your contributions in ways that matter. This process isn't just about numbers and metrics; it's about telling the complete story of how your work transforms problems into opportunities and delivers meaningful results that others recognize and appreciate.

Chapter 1: Start with Why: Define Your Purpose and Impact

The journey to demonstrate value begins with clarity about why your work matters. Starting with impact means identifying the specific business measures that your project or initiative aims to improve. These measures often include productivity, quality, cost reduction, time savings, or customer satisfaction - the key performance indicators (KPIs) that matter to decision-makers. Chip Huth, a SWAT team leader in the Kansas City Police Department, faced a challenging situation when he was appointed to lead a team with excessive citizen complaints - about 30-40 per year. Each complaint cost the department approximately $70,000 just for investigations. The deputy chief who appointed Chip expected him to "clean up" the mess, though expectations were vague. Initially, Chip wasn't convinced the team could be fixed, but he reassured the deputy chief he could address the problem. Through a series of personal and professional encounters, Chip discovered the "Outward Mindset" approach from the Arbinger Institute. This framework taught him to see others as people who matter as much as himself and to consider their needs, challenges, and objectives while focusing on collective results. When Chip introduced this approach to his team, they responded positively and asked him to guide them in applying it. Chip now had a clear business measure (citizen complaints at roughly $70,000 each), the right solution (Outward Mindset), and the right people. He was ready to make an impact. Knowing your "why" provides direction and motivation. When defining impact, consider both hard data (objective measures like output, quality, cost, and time) and soft data (subjective measures like teamwork, collaboration, and customer satisfaction). Sometimes these measures are obvious, found in operational reports or benchmark studies. Other times, they require more investigation to uncover. An effective approach to clarify impact is to ask, "What would happen if we did nothing?" For instance, Paula Patel, who wanted to continue working remotely, realized that if executives called off work-from-home arrangements, she would likely leave the company (affecting turnover), cost the company more for office space, produce less, generate more carbon emissions, spend more money personally, and experience increased stress with decreased job satisfaction. Once you've defined your impact measures, capture the baseline performance so you can evaluate against it after your work is done. Then, determine the magnitude of the problem or opportunity by converting impact measures to money. This helps answer the question, "Is this problem or opportunity worth pursuing?" For example, Chip Huth's SWAT team's citizen complaints cost the police department $2.1-2.8 million annually just for investigations - putting the problem in a much brighter light.

Chapter 2: Choose the Right Solution for the Right Problem

Finding the right solution to achieve your desired impact is a critical step that many people overlook. Contrary to popular belief, the solution to a problem is rarely obvious, and selecting the wrong approach can waste resources while failing to address the core issue. Ginger Luttrell, who spent a decade as a software engineer, noticed a persistent problem with business software implementations. When new systems went live, end-users often complained: "Why did we spend money on software yet little on training and support?" Despite comprehensive training during implementation, users experienced problems and frustrations on the job. This affected productivity, quality, and time savings - the very measures the new systems were meant to improve. Some users became so frustrated they left the company altogether. Ginger realized the solution: end-users needed ongoing support from someone who would serve as a mentor, coach, trainer, and trusted advisor. This person - a "super user" - would help them through complex implementation issues while developing them to become more valuable team members. Testing this approach in different organizations, Ginger found that the cost of providing super users was much less than the savings generated by making the software system more effective. This insight eventually led her to found the Super User Network. To increase the odds of selecting the right solution, you need to determine three things: the performance that needs to change, the learning that supports the change, and the preferences that need to be met. Performance might include actions, processes, behaviors, or systems implementation. Learning encompasses the knowledge and skills people need to make the project successful. Preferences relate to how people need to perceive the project to fully engage with it. Sometimes the right solution comes from experience, as with Ginger Luttrell's super users. Other times, you need analytical tools to diagnose the root cause. Rebecca Benson, a human resources vice president at a behavioral center, used the nominal group technique to discover why direct care staff were leaving at a 40% annual rate. Through structured focus groups with 50 staff members, she identified five main reasons: low wages and benefits, poor management quality, insufficient training, the nature of the work, and scheduling issues. With these insights, Rebecca designed targeted solutions that reduced turnover to 21%. When implementing solutions, consider learning needs carefully. Richard Coldwell, a traffic design coordinator, discovered this when his state highway department implemented roundabouts to replace stop signs. While serious accidents decreased, minor accidents increased significantly because drivers didn't know how to navigate the roundabouts. The solution required educational campaigns to address this learning gap. Finally, remember that stakeholder perception is critical to success. The New Coke failure demonstrates this principle. Despite taste tests showing people preferred the new formula, the product flopped because Coca-Cola failed to understand how consumers would react when their beloved original Coke was discontinued. Before rolling out your solution, ask yourself, "How can we position this project so that those involved buy in?"

Chapter 3: Set Clear Success Metrics That Drive Results

Objectives are the roadmap that guides your journey toward value creation. Without clear objectives, your project is like a ship without a rudder, drifting without direction or purpose. Research consistently shows that projects with specific objectives deliver significantly better results than those with vague goals or no goals at all. Martin Burt, founder and CEO of Fundación Paraguaya, understood this principle when creating the Poverty Stoplight program. After years of working to eliminate poverty worldwide, Martin realized that traditional approaches were insufficient. His innovative program helps families understand what they must do to escape poverty by focusing on 50 specific indicators across areas like income, health, housing, education, and motivation. For each indicator, Martin created a "stoplight" system with three phases: red (worst-case scenario), yellow (making progress), and green (out of poverty). Most importantly, he developed specific measures of success for each indicator so that all stakeholders, including the families themselves, could see where they were going and the progress being made. These objectives spanned all five levels of success: reaction (how families perceive the program), learning (what they need to know), application (what actions they should take), impact (the changes in their circumstances), and ROI (the worth of the program). By setting clear expectations at each level, Martin designed a program with a high probability of success. The impact measures were identified at the beginning, the right solution was developed through research, and specific objectives with key results were established. Through this approach, Paraguay may become the first country to eliminate poverty. To develop effective objectives for your own projects, recognize their power as drivers of success. Make them specific rather than vague, as specificity drives results. Follow the SMART criteria (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) and consider these practical rules: objectives should represent minimum acceptable performance, fewer objectives are better than many, involve subject matter experts in setting them, create stretch objectives that are still achievable, and allow flexibility to change as conditions change. José Petrini, a marketing manager for a software company in Brazil, applied these principles when evaluating his company's exhibit at an industry trade show. Rather than simply setting up the booth and hoping for the best, José established objectives at every level: reaction (would visitors find the exhibit attractive and helpful?), learning (what should visitors learn about the company's capabilities?), application (what specific actions should visitors take?), impact (how many new and existing customers should be converted?), and ROI (at least 15% return on the investment). Having these clear objectives gave everyone involved in the exhibiting process the focus they needed to be successful. Success wasn't defined until the company actually obtained additional sales and new clients. The objectives effectively designed the exhibit to deliver success. Remember that objectives serve as the architectural blueprint for your project. Share them with everyone on the team as well as those funding the project. This creates alignment and establishes clear expectations for success. Without objectives, as demonstrated by Lydia Johnson's executive coaching program, you risk implementing projects that fail to deliver business value - and that can lead to program cancellation when executives ask for ROI data.

Chapter 4: Collect Meaningful Data Throughout Your Journey

Once you've established clear objectives, the next crucial step is to collect data that demonstrates your progress toward those goals. Without effective data collection, you won't know if your project is on track or if adjustments are needed to ensure success. Suzette Haywood, director of a major leadership development program in a state government, learned this lesson firsthand. After spending over two years redesigning a high-potential management associate program, she knew the new program was powerful but also more expensive than its predecessor. To secure continued funding, Suzette needed to show the program delivered more value than agencies were investing in it. While she had collected some data on reactions, learning, and limited application success, Suzette needed more comprehensive information about the program's impact. She designed a five-page questionnaire for both associates and their supervisors to capture detailed data on how associates were using the program's skill sets and the resulting impact in their departments. Some colleagues predicted a dismal 10-15% response rate, which would have been insufficient for credible analysis. Undeterred, Suzette implemented 15 techniques to increase response rates, including advance communication about the questionnaire, clearly explaining the reason for the evaluation, showing what respondents would gain by completing it, keeping responses confidential, and having introduction letters signed by top executives. Her efforts paid off with nearly a 50% response rate, providing rich data about the program's impact. When planning your own data collection strategy, start with your objectives - they tell you what to measure, how to measure it, from whom to collect data, and when to collect it. Be disciplined about collecting only what you need. Some estimates indicate that 7.5 septillion gigabytes of data are generated daily, most left unused. More data isn't better; it's merely more. For successful data collection, you need to determine the appropriate methods, identify credible sources, minimize bias, and set the timing. Common data collection methods include surveys and questionnaires, observation, interviews, focus groups, tests, action planning, and performance monitoring. When selecting methods, consider factors like accuracy, organizational culture, cost, disruption, time required, and the utility of the data. Always go to the most credible source of data - the people or systems closest to the measures you plan to take. If you want to know about productivity improvement in a manufacturing plant, don't ask the senior executive; ask the plant manager or check the plant's performance database. For subjective data from people, minimize bias by developing well-formed questions, communicating the purpose of your data collection, reassuring respondents about confidentiality, and asking about barriers to success. Timing your data collection appropriately is essential. Reaction and learning data are typically collected during project implementation. Application data collection occurs when participants are using what they've learned, usually three weeks to one month after implementation. Impact data require waiting until there has been time to see the consequences of knowledge application, typically one to six months after implementation. For long-term projects like General Wesley Clark's Civility Leadership Institute, a 12-month program bringing together diverse leaders to solve problems through collaboration, data collection may need to occur at multiple points. During each monthly session, the program collects perception data and application reports, with more substantial questionnaires at three, six, and eleven months. This ongoing data collection ensures the program is working and progress is being made.

Chapter 5: Calculate and Communicate Your True Worth

After collecting your data, the next critical step is to analyze it to determine the true value of your work. This process involves isolating the effects of your project from other influences, converting impact data to money, identifying intangible benefits, tabulating costs, and calculating return on investment (ROI). The Kansas City SWAT team case illustrates this process perfectly. After implementing the Outward Mindset program to reduce citizen complaints, team leader Chip Huth needed to prove the program's value. Complaints decreased from about three per month to zero after implementation. To ensure credibility, Chip needed to determine if other factors might have influenced this improvement. After thorough analysis, the team concluded that nothing else had changed - the number and types of missions remained the same, there were no policy changes or high-profile cases in the news. The improvement was attributable to the Outward Mindset program. When comparing the monetary benefits of reducing complaints for one year to the cost of preparing the team to use the Outward Mindset, the ROI was an impressive 5,724 percent. While this figure might seem unbelievable, the process and data proved it was credible. To isolate the effects of your project, you have several options. The most credible technique is using experimental versus control groups, as demonstrated by an anesthesiologist in British Columbia who tested a new procedure for colon cancer surgery with 16 patients while using standard care with another matched group. The results were dramatic - the experimental group had zero complications, infections, and readmissions, while the control group had rates ranging from 5% to 20%. Other isolation techniques include trend line analysis (comparing actual performance to projected performance based on historical trends), mathematical modeling (examining statistical relationships between variables), and using estimates from credible sources. The key is to start with the improvement in the measure (a fact) and then determine what portion of that improvement is attributable to your project. After isolating your project's effects, convert the impact to monetary value. There's good news: many measures already have established monetary values. For example, standard values exist for productivity measures, quality issues, and time savings (using hourly compensation rates). If standard values aren't available, consult internal or external experts or research databases and studies. Darnell Jackson, a police officer tackling motor vehicle theft in a college town, needed to determine the cost of each theft. He found a Rand Corporation report stating that one motor vehicle theft costs $9,079. With 648 thefts in the previous year, the total cost to the city was $5,883,192 - making the magnitude of the problem evident and supporting his case for a prevention program. Some impact measures cannot be credibly converted to money within a reasonable timeframe - these remain intangible benefits. Employee engagement often falls into this category, though it remains a powerful measure. Other common intangibles include collaboration, image, brand awareness, and work-life balance. While not monetized, these benefits should still be reported as valuable outcomes of your project. To calculate ROI, you must account for all project costs, both direct and indirect. Gloria Williams, implementing a master's degree program for communications specialists at a security agency, included tuition costs, professor travel expenses, security clearance costs, and participants' time away from work. The program's benefits ($8,365,000 for reduced turnover and $1,580,000 for increased capability) compared to its costs yielded an ROI of 153 percent. The final calculation typically uses two measures: the benefit-cost ratio (BCR) and the ROI percentage. A BCR of 2.18 means that for every dollar invested, there are $2.18 in benefits. An ROI of 118 percent means that for every dollar invested, that dollar is returned plus another $1.18. These calculations tell the same story in different ways, allowing you to speak the language of your audience.

Chapter 6: Transform Results into Future Opportunities

The final step in showing your value is leveraging your results to create new opportunities. Even the most impressive data won't make a difference until you act on the insights gained. This involves effectively communicating your results, optimizing your approach based on what you've learned, and strategically leveraging your success to drive future growth. Jessica Kriegel, an organization and talent development consultant at Oracle, demonstrated this process while addressing intergenerational understanding in the workplace. When a product development team member complained about "millennials" not understanding corporate culture, Jessica took on the challenge of developing a program to address behavioral and communication issues. Rather than assuming millennials were the problem, she conducted surveys and focus groups to understand the real issues. Her research revealed that while managers perceived generational differences, the root problems were more nuanced. Millennials needed more information about why their jobs mattered, wanted more communication from managers, and struggled with work-life balance. With these insights, Jessica designed separate programs for both managers and employees to help them work productively together. Jessica collected data at every level - reaction, learning, application, and impact. The programs improved collaboration, which led to better retention and productivity. After isolating the effects of her program and comparing benefits to costs, she calculated an ROI of 695 percent. Jessica communicated these impressive results to executives and other groups, and included insights from her bestselling book, "Unfairly Labeled." By leveraging her results, Jessica made a difference not only for Oracle but also for the program participants and the individuals she now reaches through her writing and speaking. When communicating your results, consider your audience and purpose. Different stakeholders need different information. Executives may want a concise summary focusing on impact and ROI, while project team members might need detailed information about application and barriers to success. Choose communication methods that match your audience's preferences, whether that's meetings, detailed reports, brief summaries, electronic reporting, or publications. For critical presentations to sponsors or executives, follow a structured sequence: describe the project and evaluation process, present data from all levels (reaction through ROI), review the credibility of your data, summarize conclusions, and offer recommendations. When an anesthesiologist in British Columbia presented results from his pilot study of a new surgical procedure, he initially planned to use the data to make a case for a larger study. However, the results were so compelling (showing an ROI of 118 percent) that administrators immediately approved implementing the new procedure throughout the system - and it eventually spread across the Canadian healthcare system. Beyond communication, use your results to optimize your approach. Evaluation isn't just about demonstrating value - it's about creating even greater value through process improvement. If your project succeeds, make it more successful. If it fails to deliver, improve it. This "black box thinking" approach, borrowed from aviation safety, turns measurement into improvement and improvement into optimization. Demonstrating ROI also transforms how others perceive your work - from a cost to be controlled to an investment to be protected and expanded. When Kaycee Buckley evaluated a coaching program for sales managers, she discovered they weren't coaching effectively, resulting in a negative ROI. Rather than hiding this finding, she presented it to executives who appreciated the transparency and supported changes that ultimately made the program successful. They even requested more evaluations, showing that even negative results can create positive outcomes when properly leveraged. Finally, use your success to drive systemic change. Haifa Al Lawati, director of evaluation for Oman's Ministry of Education, used the Show the Value Process to evaluate professional development programs. After demonstrating success, she published a book sharing the results and began conducting workshops for other government agencies. Her work improved the quality of training programs throughout the ministry and secured continued funding and support. By communicating, optimizing, and leveraging your results, you transform a single successful project into a foundation for ongoing growth and innovation. The real ROI isn't just in the numbers - it's in how you use those results to achieve the purpose you set out to accomplish when you first answered the question, "Why?"

Summary

Throughout this journey of discovering how to demonstrate your true value, we've explored a comprehensive framework that transforms the way we think about and communicate the impact of our work. The six-step process - starting with why, selecting the right solution, setting clear objectives, collecting meaningful data, analyzing results, and leveraging outcomes - provides a roadmap anyone can follow to show their worth in measurable, meaningful ways. As the authors remind us, "When it comes to delivering results, hope is not a strategy, luck is not a factor, doing nothing is not an option. Change is inevitable; progress is optional." The choice to implement this process lies with you. By connecting your work to business needs, designing solutions that address root causes, setting clear objectives, collecting the right data, analyzing it credibly, and leveraging your results, you transform not just how others see your value, but how you approach your work every day. The time to start is now - choose one project, apply these principles, and watch as doors open to new opportunities, greater influence, and meaningful impact that extends far beyond what you might have imagined possible.

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Patricia Pulliam Phillips

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