Laurie Reuttimann came to my attention a couple of years ago when I was looking for gamechangers in the HR field and her blog, Punk Rock HR (tagline: “Teamwork is for suckers.”), snagged my attention. Her stuff was hilarious, honest, and in an envronment that can be obsessed with compliance and normative behaviors, breathtakingly contrarian. She retired Punk Rock HR in June, 2011, and today, goes by the handle of Cynical Girl.

I could give you a million reasons why Laurie Reuttimann is a gamechanger, I’ll give you one. She understands the difference between business objectives and business outcomes. So often, we muddle the two, and think they are the same thing. They are not.

Laurie’s objective with ‘The Cynical Girl game’ is to,”build a portfolio career. You should build one, too,” she writes in her last Punk Rock HR post.

The outcomes will be things like people changing their own games, finding work, passing her links around, friending and following her online, sharing an occasional smile, and using our newfound cynical outlooks to not automatically buy into the bullshit, especially our own.

Objectives are singular. Outcomes are infinite. Focus on objectives to realize outcomes.

Or don’t. The Cynical Girl doesn’t give a damn. She’s too busy babysitting cats to babysit you.