Output to Outcome Reader's Guide

This reader's guide is a companion to Output to Outcome: An Operating Model for the Age of AI by Mik Kersten. It walks through the book's Introduction, foundational Chapter 0, three core-theory chapters, and seven "Shift" chapters, giving each a summary, a "Try This" prompt, and discussion questions that move from comprehension toward application and disagreement.

Built for book clubs, product and engineering leadership teams, and corporate training programs, the guide supports three paces — one part per session, one chapter per session, or a single-session overview using the closing discussion questions. Each chapter's "Try This" prompt is designed to complement, not duplicate, the book's own chapter-ending AI prompt, often suggesting readers run it against their own organization before or after discussion.

Topics
Leadership · Software Delivery & Architecture
Formats
epub · pdf
License
Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

About the author

Mik Kersten

Founder, Lymyt · as of 2026-07-24

Dr. Mik Kersten is an independent technology strategist and researcher best known as the creator of the Flow Framework and author of the bestselling book Project to Product and the new book Output to Outcome. Mik founded Tasktop and led the company as CEO until its acquisition by Planview in 2022. Mik started his career as a Research Scientist at Xerox PARC as part of the team that created the first aspect-oriented programming language. He then completed his PhD in Computer Science at the University of British Columbia, where he pioneered the integration of software development and collaboration tools. That work became the foundation for Tasktop and helped shape the emerging field of Value Stream Management. Before shifting his focus to flow, outcomes, and organizational modularity, Mik wrote more than one million lines of open-source code that are still in use today. His work now focuses on helping leaders transition from output- driven management to outcome-driven operating models, enabling organizations to harness the power of AI in a human-centric way. For more information, please visit the book‘s website at https://outputtooutcome.org/ .

Everything by Mik Kersten →