An outcome is the condition the community wants to achieve. Most community visions are related in some way to at least one of the five outcomes that characterize vital rural communities. By measuring progress toward their outcomes, communities define a focal point for reflection and refocusing. Most communities simultaneously pursue a number of actions that may or may not be well-coordinated or effective in moving the community closer to its vision and outcomes. The process of measurement helps communities tie their actions more consciously to their vision.
Communities often confuse their actions with their outcomes.
For example, if an outcome is economic security, then creating jobs may be one action to move toward that goal. An indicator is one component that must be changed or a condition that must be achieved by the actions the community undertakes in order to claim that progress has been made toward the vision. It is put in terms of an output or an outcome. Since visions are generally quite broad, there are many possible actions and many possible indicators that could suggest progress toward the goal. Different people in the community will interpret the vision in different ways and will, therefore, suggest different indicators of progress.