Don't confuse Results with Impact

Finishing a task is a result. But creating impact moves and changes the business. Being on the impact side opens many doors and opportunities.

You become an inevitable player. A promotable player. A career player.

I experienced it the hard way.

I created marvellous results and presented them to top management. These are the moments when you are proud of what you have accomplished. And then, the management asked questions.

Good questions where you think: "Damn, why haven't I thought about it."

My success fainted and their talent (me) disappointed.

They aren't happy and neither was I.

Why?

Because impact would be created in six months.
But I overlooked options creating impact in 2 months.

What I mean:

• Creating a great product in 8 months instead of fixing an existing one in 2 weeks and starting selling it in 2 weeks. Sales in 8 months vs. 2 weeks.

or

• Conducted 12 customer interviews and compiled insights. Turned those insights into a new offer that doubled close rates in 30 days.

Results vs. Impact. And in most companies, impact is what moves your career.

How?

Ask yourself:

“If I stopped doing this next week, would anyone notice? Would it affect decisions, outcomes, or other people’s work?”

If the answer is no, it’s a result. Not an impact.

Creating results means you hit your targets. You delivered what was asked.

But nothing changes.
No recognition.
No new opportunity.

Here’s the difference — and how to stop guessing what will make you visible, valuable, and promotable.

1. Don’t Confuse Results with Impact (Framing)

The first step is to understand the difference between results and impact. This is important because you need to own your story. How does your work create an impact?

• Results are personal. Impact is organizational.
  → Always connect what you did to what it changed for others.
  → "The automation saved the team 12 hours per week."
• Results are activity. Impact is visibility.
  → Tell the story in context. What did your result enable?
  → "The offsite aligned the leadership team and unlocked 3 stalled decisions.”
• Results live in decks. Impact lives in decisions.
  → Ask yourself: Did this influence anyone important? Did it change direction or unlock action?
  → “The dashboard changed how leadership prioritized Q2 investments.”
• Results are done. Impact keeps paying dividends.
  → Track long-term effects. Speak in outcomes, not just outputs.
  → “The team reduced ticket volume by 40% over 3 months thanks to my training.”

The bottom line is:

If you have to explain how hard you worked…
You’re probably talking about results, not impact.

Now, we have understood the difference of results and impact. But how to find work that create impact? Let's dive in.

2. How to Find the Work That Creates Impact

We learned that impact is organisational. We need to think like an organisation and in its metrics.

Think in: What changed in time, cost, risk, revenue, decision-making, or team performance because of you?

This is the metric of companies. Here are five common ways to spot those areas:

1. Ask: “What Keeps My Manager Up at Night?”
   Managers are often under pressure from the top management or the board. They need to deliver results that change the trajectory of the company.
   
   They struggle because they don't know who can solve their problem.
   
   Find these things by asking:
   - What do they bring up again and again in meetings?
   - What do they measure and report upward?
   - Where do they seem frustrated or stuck?
   
   Solve the problem of the manager, and you will be the hero.
2. Spot the Blockers — and Remove Them
   Search for the classic bottlenecks. They cost the company speed in execution. This could be manual reports (Excel isn't your enemy), approval loops, or unstructured handovers.
   
   Focus on of these and you create impact because others become better, faster, smarter.
3. Follow the Money, Time, or Risk
   Money, Tims, and Risk are the classical business KPIs. They are business levers. So classical is how to spot those:
   
   - Which tasks touch revenue, customer success, cost, or compliance?
   - Can you improve margin, retention, or delivery time?
   - Does your idea reduce risk, or unblock money flow?
   
   If it’s tied to a core KPI, you’re playing in the right zone.
4. Scan for High-Leverage Projects
   There is always big noise in companies. People are hustling to get daily projects done. Watch out for the high-leverage projects. Try to get in there:
   
   - Join cross-functional or leadership-sponsored projects.
   - Volunteer for things with external visibility (presentations, client-facing docs, etc.).
   - Find “orphaned” projects your boss wants but hasn’t had time to start.
   
   Impact doesn’t always mean more work. Just the right work.
5. Zoom Out: Ask “If This Works… Then What?”
   Every team, department, or company has blind spots. Things about nobody thinks. Things about nobody cares. Search for them.
   
   - Will it reduce future work, cost, or risk?
   - Will this unlock new opportunities for the business?
   - Will it scale across other teams, markets, or use cases?
   
   Leaders love people who see around the corner.

Make a table with these 5 points and write in the second columns things that match in your company.

Don't guess. Be laser sharp and watch your impact growing.

First you can start with your current work.

3. Review Your Work

Think about your last 3 “wins.” Can you explain how each one created impact, not just delivered a result?

If not, then it is time.

Summary

Results are what you do. Impact is what changes because of you. Creating impact is one way to work smarter, not harder. The best is that it makes you visible and promotable.

The people with the highest success in business and life aren't the smartest or the hardest working ones. It's the people with the highest impact. Let that sink in.