Every job has moments where the path to success is undefined or success isn’t completely in our control. I find business development as a Managing Partner to be one of those situations. I can’t walk into a networking event, strike up a conversation, and walk out with a signed contract. But, business development (BD) is still essential for the long-term success of the office I help lead and the organization. To stay disciplined and in rhythm with the activities required for business development, I’ve had to learn to love the process. I’ve learned that, to find success, I need to focus on the things I can control, the inputs, and let the outcomes fall where they may.

The same applies to any role; developers staying disciplined on tackling technical debt, delivery leads building team cultures of safety and strong communication, etc. In all of these situations, you can create an environment where you have wins, even if the outcomes are far behind or totally unknown.

Why Outcome Metrics Fail

If I judged my BD performance on the number of contracts I signed in the last quarter, I would burn out quickly.

The outcomes of activities with a long, indirect ROI are simply lagging indicators. Refactoring a tricky area of an application may not pay off until a feature in the next milestone builds off that code. Implementing activities to encourage team members to share successes won’t immediately create a high-trust, high-communication team.

When I try to hold myself to the outcomes of these activities, it only creates anxiety. It also incentivizes short-term thinking (let’s get this contract signed even though it’s not a good fit).

This is where focusing on inputs shines.

Focus on What You Can Control

When you find yourself in a situation as I have with business development, the first step is figuring out what measurable things you can control.

For example, with BD, I can control the number of networking events & conferences I attend. I can control how many people I meet that I connect with on LinkedIn or that I schedule coffee with.

If you’re a developer struggling to prioritize technical debt, you might consider different inputs. Could you dedicate a block of team each week to making progress on tech debt? Could you count the number of tech debt tickets you knock out each sprint?

Once you’ve identified a few inputs you can control, find a way to measure them and set goals. I like to use SMART criteria for defining goals for the inputs I identify.

For business development, I’ve decided to create boundaries around my goals per quarter. It aligns nicely with our internal reporting cadences and helps me smooth out the week-to-week noise. Goals that I have for a quarter are:

• 6 events attended
• 15 interactions with new contacts (Zoom call, coffee, lunch, etc.)
• 15 interactions with existing contacts

Inputs Compound, Be Patient

If you’ve been in these situations before (BD, long-running projects, etc.), you have seen how these things eventually play out. That feature does come around, and the effort you put into cleaning up the existing code pays huge dividends. You get that “random” email on a Friday from a contact asking if you’re available to talk about a project.

These things are not luck. They are the result of consistently applying the inputs to create more opportunities for the outcomes to be realized.

The trick is sticking to the process, especially when it’s inconvenient (hard deadlines, a down market, etc.). It’s all a long game that rewards those who stay disciplined.

If you are in a role or part of your job is slow, unpredictable, or outside your influence, I would encourage you to:

1. List inputs you can control.
2. Set achievable goals for those inputs.
3. Measure!
4. Celebrate the wins along the way.

The wins will come, but they will not be immediate. Learn to love the process and focus on what you can control. Create opportunities for the outcomes.