Ask any England fan the question. They will confidently declare their team will go to the World Cup and win it despite having only won it once, and not for (checks the latest version of the 3 lions song) 60 years. If a team in your organisation failed to achieve its primary objective for sixty years, you would probably conclude it never would. So why does belief persist? What if there was a different type of measure going on behind the scenes, other than just winning that much coveted trophy, and what if that was more important in the end? The answer might lie in the difference between outcome goals and performance goals.

When the World Cup comes around again, the only thing any fan wants is to witness that win, no matter how it is achieved. They are focussing on an outcome objective. But Managers and coaches know that to give their teams any chance at all of that win, there must be a whole different set of objectives that rely, not on outcomes, but consistency and cumulative performance. Both are distinct and as with most organisational development, measurable in different ways.

Outcome goals tend to be succinct, easily measurable and focussed around a specific objective. Let’s use the England team as an example. The outcome goal is ultimately to win the World Cup. As many die hard fans will tell you (at length) this is not only extremely difficult to do, it is subject to many external factors that are out of their control. The desire of the other teams, an unfortunate yellow card, or even the hand of God. When these things happen, there is no point in crying about it. Better to look at our performance goals.

Performance goals tend to be more data and consistency driven. Did the team meet the performance objective? Do they recover from setbacks? Do they regularly hit the targets? They might consider factors such as team cohesion, how well they work together. Often we see wonderful individual talent that is unable to see beyond themselves and the objectives of the team.

Sometimes you might see a team achieve the objective, but unconvincingly. You might hear the manager saying ‘they did the job but not in the way I wanted, not convincingly’. Just like with the England team. Fans hope they will secure victory easily, convincingly and totally, annihilating the other team in the process. But they are in a competitive market. All the other teams will be doing their best to not let that happen. Annoying but true.

It is reported that some national teams will set a quarter final objective or even just getting out of the group stage. Of course people will say England expects. But what sort of a culture sets unrealistic expectations and lampoons their staff if they fail, or worse still, dismisses them? The counter argument put forward by the FA is that to set a target below winning the tournament is to impose a ceiling on ambition. That in itself shows the separation between the two types of goals. One is about the level that you achieve, the other is about the way in which you achieve it. Arguably the latter is culturally more important. There will always be another tournament, another ambition. National teams do not give up on their ambition, whether you are Brazil or Curucao.

Of course, footballers have short careers. There isn’t a player in the current World Cup team that was even alive in 1966. The outcome goal has been consistent throughout, but the game is different, technology, sports science and investment have seen to this. The playing field has changed, but if anything, expectations of consistent performance have increased, not decreased over the years.

The process, methodology and the commitment to meeting objectives in a particular way that the whole team can buy into, is far more relevant and relatable than the act of lifting a small gold trophy. Human beings are tribal, they want to feel part of something that is bigger than themselves. They want to experience the highs and lows, the trials and tribulations, successes and oh so nears as a group. If you can build this sense of togetherness in your business, you may not always win, but you won’t feel alone when you lose.