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

by John Doerr

“Goals may cause systematic problems in organizations due to narrowed focus, unethical behavior, increased risk taking, decreased cooperation, and decreased motivation.”

We need to be careful when setting goals

When people help choose a course of action, they are more likely to see it through.

So we switched it up. We began pinning our key results to deadlines instead of revenue or projected users. (Example: “Launch MFP Premium by 5/1/15.”) After a feature launched and some real data came back, we’d be in a stronger position to assess its impact and potential. Then our next round of OKRs could be more realistically keyed (or stretched) to projected outputs.

Replace “Employee of the Month” with “Achievement of the Month.” Share recognition stories. Newsletters or company blogs

I like to start with three questions: What makes you very happy? What saps your energy? How would you describe your dream job?