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

by John Doerr

HOW: Why HOW We Do Anything Means Everything . . . in Business (and in Life).

If you go around your boss and talk to somebody more senior, are you punished or celebrated?”

Among many lessons, Bill taught us the importance of a team’s dignity, especially when a company fails.

Bill gave little direction. He’d ask a very few questions, invariably the right ones. But mostly he listened. He knew that most times in business there were several right answers, and the leader’s job was to pick one. “Just make a decision,” he’d say. Or: “Are you moving forward? Are you breaking ties? Let’s keep rolling.”

“He cared about operating excellence day in, day out.” It went back to Bill’s deceptively modest-sounding motto: “Be better every day.”

A few months before he died, in a podcast with my Kleiner partner Randy Komisar, the Coach explained that he “always wanted to be part of the solution. . . . People are the most important thing that we do. We have to try to make them better.”

Writing good OKRs isn’t easy, but it’s not impossible, either. Pay attention to the following simple rules: Objectives are the “Whats.” They: express goals and intents; are aggressive yet realistic; must be tangible, objective, and unambiguous; should be obvious to a rational observer whether an objective has been achieved. The successful achievement of an objective must provide clear value for Google. Key Results are the “Hows.” They: express measurable milestones which, if achieved, will advance objective(s) in a useful manner to their constituents; must describe outcomes, not activities. If your KRs include words like “consult,” “help,” “analyze,” or “participate,” they describe activities. Instead, describe the end-user impact of these activities: “publish average and tail latency measurements from six Colossus cells by March 7,” rather than “assess Colossus latency”; must include evidence of completion. This evidence must be available, credible, and easily discoverable. Examples of evidence include change lists, links to docs, notes, and published metrics reports.

Committed vs. Aspirational OKRs OKRs have two variants, and it is important to differentiate between them: Commitments are OKRs that we agree will be achieved, and we will be willing to adjust schedules and resources to ensure that they are delivered. The expected score for a committed OKR is 1.0; a score of less than 1.0 requires explanation for the miss, as it shows errors in planning and/or execution. By contrast, aspirational OKRs express how we’d like the world to look, even though we have no clear idea how to get there and/or the resources necessary to deliver the OKR. Aspirational OKRs have an expected average score of 0.7, with high variance.

Classic OKR-Writing Mistakes and Traps TRAP #1: Failing to differentiate between committed and aspirational OKRs. Marking a committed OKR as aspirational increases the chance of failure. Teams may not take it seriously and may not change their other priorities to focus on delivering the OKR. On the other hand, marking an aspirational OKR as committed creates defensiveness in teams who cannot find a way to deliver the OKR, and it invites priority inversion as committed OKRs are de-staffed to focus on the aspirational OKR. TRAP #2: Business-as-usual OKRs. OKRs are often written principally based on what the team believes it can achieve without changing anything they’re currently doing, as opposed to what the team or its customers really want. TRAP #3: Timid aspirational OKRs. Aspirational OKRs very often start from the current state and effectively ask, “What could we do if we had extra staff and got a bit lucky?” An alternative and better approach is to start with, “What could my [or my customers’] world look like in several years if we were freed from most constraints?” By definition, you’re not going to know how to achieve this state when the OKR is first formulated—that is why it is an aspirational OKR. But without understanding and articulating the desired end state, you guarantee that you are not going to be able to achieve it. The litmus test: If you ask your customers what they really want, does your aspirational objective meet or exceed their request? TRAP #4: Sandb...

Use real dates. If every key result happens on the last day of the quarter, you likely don’t have a real plan.

Make sure the metrics are unambiguous. If you say “1 million users,” is that all-time users or seven-day actives?

For larger groups, make OKRs hierarchical—have high-level ones for the entire team, more detailed ones for subteams. Make sure that the “horizontal” OKRs (projects that need multiple teams to contribute) have supporting key results in each subteam.

Goal Planning and Reflection To help facilitate this conversation, a manager might ask a contributor the following: What OKRs do you plan to focus on to drive the greatest value for your role, your team, and/or the company? Which of these OKRs aligns to key initiatives in the organization?

Progress Updates To get the contributor talking, a manager might pose these questions: How are your OKRs coming along? What critical capabilities do you need to be successful? Is there anything stopping you from attaining your objectives? What OKRs need to be adjusted—or added, or eliminated—in light of shifting priorities?

Upward Feedback To elicit candid input from a contributor, the manager might ask: What are you getting from me that you find helpful? What are you getting from me that impedes your ability to be effective? What could I do for you that would help you to be more successful? Career Growth To tease out a contributor’s career aspirations, a manager might ask: What skills or capabilities would you like to develop to improve in your current role? In what areas do you want to grow to achieve your career goals? What skills or capabilities would you like to develop for a future role? From a learning, growth, and development standpoint, how can I and the company help you get there?

Four Superpowers of OKRs Focus and Commit to Priorities Align and Connect for Teamwork Track for Accountability Stretch for Amazing Continuous Performance Management Importance of Culture

Equating goal attainment to bonus checks will invite sandbagging and risk-averse behavior.

Replace competitive ratings and stack rankings with transparent, strength-based, multidimensional criteria for performance evaluations. Beyond the numbers, consider a contributor’s team play, communication, and ambition in goal setting.

Rely on intrinsic motivations—purposeful work and opportunities for growth—over financial incentive...

To power positive business results, implement ongoing CFRs (conversations, feedback, and recognition) in concert with structured goal setting.

For Further Reading Andy Grove and Intel High Output Management, by Andrew S. Grove Andy Grove: The Life and Times of an American, by Richard S. Tedlow The Intel Trinity: How Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andy Grove Built the World’s Most Important Company, by Michael Malone Culture HOW: Why HOW We Do Anything Means Everything, by Dov Seidman Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, by Sheryl Sandberg Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity, by Kim Scott Jim Collins Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap . . . and Others Don’t Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck—Why Some Thrive Despite Them All Bill Campbell and Coaching Playbook: The Coach—Lessons Learned from Bill Campbell, forthcoming book by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, and Alan Eagle Straight Talk for Startups: 100 Insider Rules for Beating the Odds, by Randy Komisar Google How Google Works, by Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg Work Rules!: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead, by Laszlo Bock In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives, by Steven Levy OKRs www.whatmatters.com Radical Focus: Achieving Your Most Important Goals with Objectives and Key Results, by Christina Wodtke