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by
John Doerr
good ideas with great execution are how you make magic.
OKRs
objectives and key results,
The practice that molded me at Intel and saved me at Sun—that still inspires me today—is called OKRs. Short for Objectives and Key Results.
It is a collaborative goal-setting protocol for companies, teams, and individuals.
An OBJECTIVE, I explained, is simply WHAT is to be achieved, no more and no less.
By definition, objectives are significant, concrete, action oriented, and (ideally) inspirational.
KEY RESULTS benchmark and monitor HOW we get to the objective.
Effective KRs are specific and time-bound, aggressive yet realistic.
they are measurable and v...
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You either meet a key result’s requirements or you don’t;
My objective
to build a planning model for their company,
as measured by three ke...
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KR #1: I would finish my presentation on time.
KR #2: We’d create a sample set of quarterly Google OKRs.
KR #3: I’d gain management agreement for a three-...
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OKRs surface your primary goals.
“Goals may cause systematic problems in organizations due to narrowed focus, unethical behavior, increased risk taking, decreased cooperation, and decreased motivation.”
“hard goals” drive performance more effectively than easy goals.
Second, specific hard goals “produce a higher level of output” than vaguely worded ones.
productivity is enhanced by well-defined, challenging goals.
An effective goal management system—an OKR system—links goals to a team’s broader mission.
At smaller start-ups, where people absolutely need to be pulling in the same direction, OKRs are a survival tool.
Structured goals give backers a yardstick for success: We’re going to build this product, and we’ve proven the market by talking to twenty-five customers, and here’s how much they’re willing to pay.
demands rigor, commitment, clear thinking, and intentional communication.
whatmatters.com—is
Grove was ahead of his time. Acute focus, open sharing, exacting measurement, a license to shoot for the moon—these are the hallmarks of modern goal science.
one great flaw: a lack of “achievement orientation.”
It almost doesn’t matter what you know. It’s what you can do with whatever you know or can acquire and actually accomplish [that] tends to be valued here.” Hence the company’s slogan: “Intel delivers.”
The objective is the direction: “We want to dominate the mid-range microcomputer component business.”
Qualitative in nature. How will we improve the business?
Key results for this quarter: “Win ten new designs for the 8085” is one key result.
Quantitative, milestone, measurable. In alignment with the objective to realize the objective
It’s a milestone.
but over the next quarter we’ll know whether we’ve won ten new designs or not.
Points towards the objective, our North star. If our key results point towards our North star (even if we don't hit the objective) then we're sure to be better for it
When people help choose a course of action, they are more likely to see it through.
the limitations of MBOs caught up with them. At many companies, goals were centrally planned and sluggishly trickled down the hierarchy.
became stagnant for lack of frequent updating; or trapped and obscured in silos;
Most deadly of all, MBOs were commonly tied to sala...
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S]tressing output is the key to increasing productivity,
How can we define and measure output by knowledge workers? And what can be done to increase it?
Every knowledge worker in the company formulated monthly individual objectives and key results.
Advice for new companies trying okr...skip this and focus on company and team okr. Set tasks for members of teams
I’d been put to work writing benchmarks for the 8080,
Key results for project
My goal was to show how our chip was faster and generally beat the competition.
Objective. Can do same for qdir detectors to reach prospective customers and guide development
Then I posted a hard copy on my carrel for people to scan as they walked by. I’d never worked at a place where you wrote down your goals, much less where you could see everybody else’s, on up to the CEO.
When people came to me mid-quarter with requests to draft new data sheets, I felt I could say no without fear of repercussion. My OKRs backed me.
They spelled out my priorities fo...
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When he saw a manager failing, he would try to find another role—perhaps at a lower level—where the person might succeed and regain some standing and respect.
Interesting. Could be offensive, or could instill confidence to return to higher position (like major league training in farm league)
he “seemed to know exactly what he wanted and how he was going to achieve it.”* He was sort of a walking OKR.
“Doerr, if you want to be a really good general manager someday, you need to get out in the field, sell, get rejected, and learn to meet a quota.
you’ll succeed or fail in this business based on whether your team makes their numbers.”
