Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs

by John Doerr

good ideas with great execution are how you make magic.

Not least, they would need timely, relevant data. To track their progress. To measure what mattered.

But exactly how do you build engagement? A two-year Deloitte study found that no single factor has more impact than “clearly defined goals that are written down and shared freely. . . . Goals create alignment, clarity, and job satisfaction.”

Crush illustrates all four OKR superpowers: focus, alignment, tracking, and stretching.

One proviso: When an objective gets dropped before the end of the OKR interval, it’s important to notify everyone depending on it. Then comes reflection: What did I learn that I didn’t foresee at the beginning of the quarter? And: How will I apply this lesson in the future?

Google uses a scale of 0 to 1.0: 0.7 to 1.0 = green.* (We delivered.) 0.4 to 0.6 = yellow. (We made progress, but fell short of completion.) 0.0 to 0.3 = red. (We failed to make real progress.)

Learning “from direct experience,” a Harvard Business School study found, “can be more effective if coupled with reflection—that is, the intentional attempt to synthesize, abstract, and articulate the key lessons taught by experience.”

“We do not learn from experience . . . we learn from reflecting on experience.”

Here are some reflections for closing out an OKR cycle: Did I accomplish all of my objectives? If so, what contributed to my success? If not, what obstacles did I encounter? If I were to rewrite a goal achieved in full, what would I change? What hav...

definition of entrepreneurs: Those who do more than anyone thinks possible . . . with less than anyone thinks possible.*

Leaders must convey two things: the importance of the outcome, and the belief that it’s attainable.

Here’s the precious opportunity for people to say to their leaders, What do you need from me to be successful? And now let me tell you what I need from you.

But neither JIRA nor LiquidPlanner could answer one big question: What’s the most important thing to do?

The agenda is you, the individual, and what you are trying to accomplish personally over the next two to three years, and how you’re breaking that into a two-week plan. I like to start with three questions: What makes you very happy? What saps your energy? How would you describe your dream job?

Healthy culture and structured goal setting are interdependent.

A rulebook can tell me what I can or can’t do. I need culture to tell me what I should do.”