Frame and outcomes

Start with the problem or opportunity, the intended change, focal population or system, geography, time horizon, perspective, accountable owner and decisions this pathway will inform. Record what is inside the initiative’s control, inside its influence, and part of the external context.

An activity is work performed. An output is its direct deliverable or reach. An outcome is a change in condition, behavior, capability, practice, relationship or system. “Run workshops” is an activity; “participants use the new practice” is an outcome.

Write outcomes specifically enough that another person can tell what changes, for whom, in what direction and over what horizon. Include intended, unintended, adverse and distributional possibilities. Avoid implying that the focal organization owns changes that depend on many actors.

Before moving on, ask whose definition of success is present, whose is absent, which rights or constraints are non-negotiable, and whether the horizon is realistic. Stakeholder Mapping and Collaborative Facilitation can supply reviewed upstream context while preserving provenance.