Meaning of OKRs, and why so many companies start using them
In today’s economy, change is a fact of life. We cannot cling to what’s worked and hope for the best. We need a trusty scythe to carve a path ahead of the curve. Organizations striving for business agility are increasingly adopting a different approach for goal setting created in Silicon Valley. Objectives and Key-Results (OKRs), the goal framework used by some of the world’s most innovative companies, is quietly taking over the corporate world.
An OBJECTIVE, is simply WHAT is to be achieved, no more and no less. By definition, objectives are significant, concrete, action oriented, and (ideally) inspirational. When properly designed and deployed, they’re a vaccine against fuzzy thinking and fuzzy execution.
KEY RESULTS describe how we MEASURE our progress to the objective. Effective KRs are quantitative, aggressive and yet realistic. Most of all, they are measurable and verifiable. “It’s not a key result unless it has a number”
OKRs give users and their organizations four superpowers
Focus and Commit to Priorities
High-performance organizations home in on work that’s important, and are equally clear on what doesn’t matter. OKRs pushes leaders to make hard choices. They’re a precision communication tool for departments, teams, and individual contributors.
Align and Connect for Teamwork
With OKR transparency, everyone’s goals, from the CEO down are openly shared. Individuals link their objectives to the company’s game plan, identify cross-dependencies, and coordinate with other teams.
Track for Accountability
OKRs are driven by data. They are animated by periodic check-ins, objective grading, and continuous reassessment, in a spirit of no-judgment accountability. Key results at risk triggers action to get it back on track, or to revise or replace when it makes more sense.
Stretch for Amazing
OKRs and moonshot goals motivate us to excel by doing more than we’d thought possible. By testing our limits and affording the freedom to fail, they release our most creative, ambitious selves.