When you ask this question, you are forcing clarity. It cuts through ego, habit, and noise. It asks for proof of value, not just activity. Below is a simple way to use it as a daily filter for choices, projects, and conversations.

The Core Lens

1. What outcome do I want?
2. How does this action move that outcome forward?
3. What is the cost in time, money, energy, and attention?
4. Is there a better action with a higher ratio of gain to cost?

If you cannot show the link between action and outcome, you have a signal to pause or pivot.

The Four Levels Of Good

1. Personal Good

• Builds capacity. You gain skill, health, focus, or resilience.
• Reduces friction. You remove a bottleneck, fear, or recurring error.
• Increases clarity. You learn something that changes future choices.

2. Relational Good

• Deepens trust. People experience reliability and respect.
• Improves communication. Fewer misunderstandings and faster alignment.
• Multiplies effort. Better collaboration creates more than solo output.

3. Practical Good

• Ships something useful. A feature, document, decision, or fix.
• Saves resources. Less waste, fewer steps, lower cost.
• Lowers risk. You prevent a failure or detect it sooner.

4. Strategic Good

• Moves you toward a durable advantage. Stronger positioning or moat.
• Creates optionality. More ways to win later.
• Aligns incentives. Everyone benefits when the right thing happens.

The 3 Tests

Use these before committing time.

1. Minimum Outcome Test
   What is the smallest result that would still be worth it, and can I deliver that first?
2. Time Horizon Test
   Will this still matter in 90 days? If not, reduce scope. If yes, raise the quality bar.
3. Replaceability Test
   If I stopped doing this, what would break? If nothing breaks, stop or delegate.

The 4R Return On Good

Score an idea from 0 to 5 on each R.

• Reach. How many people benefit?
• Relevance. Do the right people benefit?
• Reliability. How likely is it to work every time?
• Repeatability. Can we do it again with less effort?

A low score means rethink the plan. A high score means go.

Decision Tree In Plain Language

• Does it solve an actual problem someone feels? If no, stop.
• Can I show a working slice this week? If no, split it smaller.
• Will the slice teach us something useful even if it fails? If no, redesign the experiment.
• After the slice, do we see a clear next step with better odds? If yes, double down.

What Good Looks Like In Practice

• A meeting becomes an agenda with decisions, owners, and deadlines.
• A vague health goal becomes one habit you can count and track.
• A messy workflow becomes a checklist that anyone can run.
• A grand strategy becomes a three step sequence with a clear finish line.

Signs You Are Doing Fake Good

• You measure effort, not effect.
• You chase novelty when the bottleneck is consistency.
• You keep everything urgent so nothing is important.
• You cannot name who benefits and how they will notice.

How To Raise The Good

1. Define the finish line. Done means a real user can do a real task without help.
2. Shorten the feedback loop. Ship smaller, sooner, and learn.
3. Stack small wins. Momentum compounds when you keep score.
4. Protect focus. Remove one distraction for every new commitment.
5. Close the loop. Deliver, confirm the benefit, and document the lesson.

The Quiet Payoff

Asking what good does it do changes how people see you. You become the person who turns motion into outcomes, ideas into decisions, and promises into proof. Over time, that reputation reduces friction, attracts trust, and makes future work easier.

One Line To Remember

If it does not create capacity, reduce friction, or move the goal, change the plan until it does.