Introduction

Dishwasher Tetris Is Real

If you have ever loaded a dishwasher in a hurry, you will recognise the instinct. Clear the worktop. Cram everything in. Get the door closed and press start. Job done.

In some households, that is the default approach. Speed and volume matter more than layout or effectiveness. As long as everything fits, it feels productive.

Let Louise break this down more for you…

Clean dishes are the real outcome

Other people load the dishwasher differently. They think about where things go, how water will reach them, and whether they will actually come out clean the first time. They might even rinse a few items before loading them.

It takes longer, but the goal is different. Clean dishes, not just a full machine.

The product management parallel

Product teams often fall into the same two camps. Some focus on output. How many features shipped. How full the sprint was. How much work moved through the system.

Others focus on outcomes. Did users adopt the feature. Did behaviour change. Did it actually solve the problem it was meant to address.

Both teams may look busy. Only one is really making progress.

When output becomes a problem

When teams optimise for cramming work into a sprint, problems often show up later. Features do not get used. Work needs to be redone. Technical debt starts to build.

It can feel productive in the moment, but the cost appears further down the line.

Choosing outcomes over volume

Outcome focused teams are more deliberate. They are careful about what goes into a sprint and how success will be measured. They value impact over activity and learning over speed.

That is the lesson from Dishwasher Tetris. A full machine looks impressive, but clean dishes are what actually matter.