How can you create a culture that prioritizes outcomes over outputs?

In my experience, to help teams focus on outcomes, I always ask the question "What will be different when this work is complete?" "What will this new process, system etc allow you to do better?" The key is being able to link the outputs to the capability that they offer, that capability in turn enables an outcome and the benefit is the measure of that outcome, this must all always align to the organisations strategic objectives.

This is key to really getting qualitative results and change outcomes. Spending more time on the impact mapping rather than rushing to get the actual culture activities in place will actually steer you towards really nailing the outcomes more effectively.

Never take your feedback metrics for granted. Publish and publish again in multiple ways until colleagues start to recognise the impact of the culture change on others and begin to subtly accept it for themselves.

Not all teams/employees/businesses are or need the same, and whatever the outcome, you need to establish measurement tools to make sure your approach is working. Having been in both sides of the equation (being asked for, and asking to focus on a great project's outcome), one tends to stick to one and only one game plan, and that narrows down your failing and retrying options: you will try to make that work no matter what, and the outcome will suffer from that. Tips: - Having ranked options outlined from the start is a must; - Failing IS on the table as long as it is used as learning (psychological safety at work allows that) - Defining what failure is, when to stop and try a new thing. Your first thought might not THE best option...

Defined outcomes are just hypotheses. It is important to keep measuring during the process and pivot if necessary. If you realise half-way the process you need another outcome or need to adjust your outcome, do not stick with it. It is important to have a mechanism in which you regularly revise what you are doing and how you′re going to impact your organisation.

These are all great ideas and aspects of making this important shift. We also need to ensure leaders are role modeling and rewarding these behaviors instead of reverting back to "lazy management" and basing performance on arbitrary metrics like face time. It's also key to ensure organizational systems and processes are aligned with this new way of working.