Measure What Matters

by John Doerr

Goal setting is more art than science. We weren’t just teaching people how to refine an objective or a measurable key result. We had a cultural agenda, as well. • Why is transparency important? Why would you want people across other departments to know your goals? And why does what we’re doing matter? • What is true accountability? What’s the difference between accountability with respect (for others’ failings) and accountability with vulnerability (for our own)? • How can OKRs help managers “get work done through others”? (That’s a big factor for scalability in a growing company.) How do we engage other teams to adopt our objective as a priority and help assure that we reach it? • When is it time to stretch a team’s workload—or to ease off on the throttle? When do you shift an objective to a different team member, or rewrite a goal to make it clearer, or remove it completely? In building contributors’ confidence, timing is everything. There is no handbook to address these questions. The wisdom resides in leaders with personal connections to their teams, to managers who can show what success looks like and know when to declare victory. (My advice: Not too soon.)