He discerned a basic truth of human nature: When people help choose a course of action, they are more likely to see it through. In 1954, in his landmark book The Practice of Management, Drucker codified this principle as “management by objectives and self-control.” It became Andy Grove’s foundation and the genesis of what we now call the OKR. By the 1960s, management by objectives—or MBOs, as the process was known—had been adopted by a number of forward-thinking companies.
