OKR

OKR stands for Objectives and Key Results. Objective - an ambitious, inspiring goal. Key Results are specific measurable indicators that prove that the goal has been achieved. Invented by Andy Grove at Intel, popularized by John Doerr, who brought the framework to Google. Since then, OKRs have become “a mandatory attribute of a serious company” - which in itself is an alarming signal.

I think of OKRs as an expensive hammer that keeps hammering in screws. In the hands of a mature team with a culture of honest conversation, it is a powerful tool. Most companies have a quarterly ritual of turning real tasks into PowerPoint with completion percentages. The main symptom of the disease: Key Results begin to be set so that they are 70% accurate, and not so that they actually move the business.

If you are implementing OKRs, the first question is not “how to write Key Results correctly,” but “is the team ready to be honest about what doesn’t work.” Without psychological safety, OKRs are simply a more complex version of the KPIs you supposedly wanted to get away from.