Outcomes or Behaviours? Driving Culture Through What You Focus On

Do you know how what you are focusing on is shaping the environment around you? Do you focus more on outcomes, or do you focus on behaviours? These two approaches create very different cultures within teams, organisations, and even life. Each has its benefits and drawbacks, and understanding the differences can help us lead more effectively.

Let’s break it down and explore how these two mindsets influence culture—and what happens when we lean too far into one at the expense of the other.

The Outcome-Focused Approach: Results are King

When you focus on outcomes, everything revolves around achieving specific goals or targets.  Whether its delivering projects on time, meeting deadlines or key performance indicators (KPIs). Leaders who take this approach place heavy emphasis on results.

At first thought, this sounds like the right move, right? After all, we all need to achieve and deliver high performance. Goals give us clear direction and accountability. They help us to measure success.  But when outcomes become the only focus, it starts to shape the culture in some ways we may not be aware of.

Outcome-Focus Culture

An outcome-driven culture tends to prioritise achievements with clear metrics. Here’s what you might see in these environments:

Not delivering the desired result is not an option.  There’s a sense of urgency to deliver results, sometimes at any cost.

High accountability coupled with low tolerance for mistakes: Performance is tracked rigorously, which can motivate—but also create fear of failure.

Short-term thinking: The focus is on achieving immediate (daily, weekly, monthly) targets rather than building for long-term success (quarterly or annual).

This can help us to:

Give clear direction and goals: Everyone knows exactly what they’re working toward, which provides clarity and purpose.

Keep accountability high: ensure that individuals and teams deliver on their commitments.

Create a performance-driven culture: which often attracts high achievers who thrive under pressure and clear expectations.

If focusing on outcomes is overdone, we can:

Sacrifice quality for speed: prioritise getting things done quickly can lead to burnout or cutting corners,

Lack attention on behaviours: Toxic behaviours might get overlooked as long as people deliver results (think high-performing but difficult team members).

Create Short-termism: this is where quick wins are favoured over sustainable growth, which comes as a cost to long-term performance and team morale.

The Behaviour-Focused Approach: How We Do Things Matters

On the flip side, some leaders take a behaviour-based approach, focusing on how people work and interact. This mindset emphasises the process over the result. Leaders here care deeply about values, team dynamics, and the way people treat each other.  

Think of a leader who celebrates the small wins like collaboration, transparency, and effort even if the team doesn’t hit every goal. The idea is that if you nurture the right behaviours, outcomes will follow naturally.

Behaviour-Focus Culture  

A behaviour-driven culture places more weight on the how and the why rather than just the what.  When we focus on behaviours we start to become aware of:

Creating psychological safety: People feel comfortable experimenting and making mistakes.

Learning and development: There's more patience for growth, fostering resilience and creativity.  Not everything needs to be executed perfectly all the time.

Consistency over outcomes: Teams are encouraged to show up the right way, even when things don’t go as planned.

This can help us to:

Build long-term culture and shared success: Consistent behaviours build trust and cohesion as a foundation for sustainable success.

Learn through failure: Mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities supporting continuous improvement.

Align with our values: When behaviours align with values, it shapes a culture people want to be part of.

If focusing on behaviours is overdone it can:

Delay outcomes: Behaviour-focused cultures may take longer to produce tangible results since the focus is on the process rather than quick wins.

Create accountability challenges: Without a balance, some people might focus on “doing things the right way” without delivering outcomes.

Create complacency: If not balanced with clear goals, teams may lose a sense of urgency.

So Which Approach Is Better?  Or Can You Balance Both?

The truth is, both approaches matter, and the key to building a thriving culture is finding the right balance between outcomes and behaviours. When we focus exclusively on outcomes, we risk creating a high-pressure environment where burnout, competition, and toxic behaviours creep in. On the other hand, focusing only on behaviours without tracking results can lead to a comfortable but stagnant culture.

A healthy, high-performing team or organisation integrates both outcomes and behaviours into its culture. Think of it like this: outcomes give us direction, and behaviours are the roadmap to get there.

How to Find the Balance

Clear Goals and Expectations
Set clear goals that are specific, measurable, and aligned with the overall vision with defined behaviours you want to see along the way. 

Celebrate Both Wins and Effort
Recognise and reward not just the outcome, but the behaviours that contributed to it. If someone hit a goal by working in alignment with your team’s values, that’s worth celebrating. And if a goal isn’t met, acknowledge the effort and learnings gained along the way.

Create a Feedback Loop
Make feedback a regular part of your culture. Talk openly about both outcomes and behaviours—what’s working, what’s not, and where to adjust. 

Lead by Example
Leaders set the tone for how to balance outcomes and behaviours. Model both a results-oriented mindset and the behaviours you want to see and most of all talk about both. 

Adjust as You Go
The balance between outcomes and behaviours is never static—it shifts depending on the team’s stage, goals, and environment. Adjust the balance as needed to keep people motivated and moving forward.

The Bottom Line

A team that focuses on achieving goals whilst creating a culture that values trust, psychological safety and aligns with their values, wins.  

As leaders, the challenge isn’t choosing between outcomes and behaviours—it’s learning how to integrate the two in a way that feels meaningful and gets results. When we do that, we build a culture that’s not only productive but also fulfilling and resilient, one where people can grow.

So, ask yourself: What outcomes are you working toward—and what behaviours will get you there? That’s where the magic lies, and it’s how you create something truly sustainable.