The CLEAR Outcomes Methodology is a free, open initiative for defining outcomes that people can understand, evaluate, influence, and review. It separates the work performed from the change that work is meant to create.
Launch a new onboarding wizard.
More new administrators complete a usable production workflow within 24 hours, without needing more support.
The wizard is one possible intervention. The changed customer experience is the outcome. Keeping them separate allows the team to test other solutions.
Outcome language is useful only when it identifies a meaningful change, the boundary in which it matters, and evidence that cannot be satisfied by completing the work alone.
New customer administrators abandon setup before completing a usable production workflow.
Launch an onboarding wizard.
Ensure every customer completes onboarding.
By Q4, increase new tenant administrators completing a verified production workflow within 24 hours from 35% to 60%, without increasing support demand.
A zone failure leaves critical customer transactions unavailable for too long.
Move services to a multi-zone architecture.
Make all critical services highly available.
By Q4, restore customer transactions within 15 minutes in at least 95% of controlled single-zone-loss exercises, with no data loss beyond the approved limit.
Recurring equipment failures cause lost production and risky restarts.
Install condition-monitoring sensors.
Improve machine reliability by 50%.
Over two rolling quarters, reduce unplanned line loss from 9.2 to below 5.0 hours per 1,000 runtime hours, without increasing safety trips or product defects.
Specialists repeatedly resolve defects that frontline teams should handle safely.
Train all employees in root-cause analysis.
Create a stronger problem-solving culture.
Within nine months, frontline teams independently resolve at least 70% of eligible recurring defects, with no increase in recurrence or unsafe workarounds.
Use the free composer to name the affected actor or system, the meaningful change, context, horizon, objective, evidence, ownership, guardrails, and review decision. Start blank or load a complete example from Product, IT, OT, Public Service, Capability, or Sustainability.
Open the composerWithin [context], [actor or system] will [experience a meaningful change] by [time horizon].
The supporting CLEAR record then tests objective, evidence, feasibility, assumptions, guardrails, and review.Clear and Concise. Linked to Objectives. Evaluative and Measurable. Achievable and Realistic. Revisited and Reviewed.
State the intended change so relevant people understand it consistently.
Can every relevant stakeholder explain the same intended change?Show how the outcome supports a legitimate objective and valued result.
Which objective does this support, why does it matter, and to whom?Define credible evidence for judging progress and success.
What evidence would support, weaken, or contradict progress?Test feasibility against resources, capability, influence, and constraints.
Can the responsible people realistically influence this outcome?Use evidence and changing context to review, learn, and adapt.
When will we review the outcome, and what could change the decision?Use the website, examples, templates, and printable guides without charge. Adapt the resources under the published Creative Commons licence, and contribute corrections or field experience back to the initiative.