The thing that your product or service delivers could be called performance, and it’s made of two components:
–The story and expectations and cultural impact of what you do (the story).
–The deliverables that are objectively measured (the spec).
It helps to have both.
Many hard-working freelancers are confused about their story. Either they insist that their work is even better than it is, and they’re frustrated when others don’t embrace it, or they undersell the value of their presence, professionalism and effort.
And many institutions, particularly those that measure the wrong things, put an enormous effort into what the lab specs show, but forget to invest in a narrative that encourages consumers to give them the benefit of the doubt.