The "I did it" vs. "it got done" gap with my kid, placed next to the same gap between requirements and shipped features in engineering work. Notes on what I tried at home to close that gap.
"Brush your teeth."
"Did it."
"You're literally just holding the toothbrush in your mouth!!"
"Get dressed." "Did it."
Walk in: pajamas scattered across the floor.
"Clean up your room." "Did it."
Exactly one Lego is back in the bin.
The kid's not lying. The "doing" part actually happened. Toothbrush, in mouth. Pajamas, off. One Lego, in the bin. Did = did.
What was actually in my head though, wasn't "did" — it was "done."
Anyone who writes code for a living has shipped this bug.
Requirement: "Customers should be able to place orders."
Implementation: "Customers can upload a CSV and it registers as an order."
As a feature, sure, it works. Orders can be placed.
But this is a consumer e-commerce site. Who is actually going to open Excel, build a CSV, and upload it to buy socks?
"Did it (built it)" and "the goal was met" are different things.
The person who wrote the requirement only said what to do, not the state they wanted to be in — so this is what ships.
The kid's "did it" has the same structure.
Change the framing.
Hand over the goal up front. Not the action — the end state.