Measure What Matters

To inspire true commitment, leaders must practice what they teach.

To inspire true commitment, leaders must practice what they teach. They must model the behavior they expect of others. After sharing my individual OKRs at an all-hands meeting, I was surprised by just how much it helped the company rally around the process. It showed everyone that I, too, was accountable. Our

To inspire true commitment, leaders must practice what they teach. They must model the behavior they expect of others. After sharing my individual OKRs at an all-hands meeting, I was surprised by just how much it helped the company rally around the process. It showed everyone that I, too, was accountable.

A lack of alignment, according to a poll of global CEOs, is the number-one obstacle between strategy and execution.

As general manager, I cascade my goal down to the next level of management, the head coach and the senior vice president of marketing. My key results become their objectives.

because OKRs are transparent, they can be shared without cascading them in lockstep. If it serves the larger purpose, multiple levels of hierarchy can be skipped over. Rather than laddering down from the CEO to a VP to a director to a manager (and then to the manager’s reports), an objective might jump from the CEO straight to a manager, or from a director to an individual contributor.

People who choose their destination will own a deeper awareness of what it takes to get there.

When our how is defined by others, the goal won’t engage us to the same degree. If my doctor orders me to lower my blood pressure by training for the San Francisco Marathon, I might grudgingly take it under advisement.

When our how is defined by others, the goal won’t engage us to the same degree. If my doctor orders me to lower my blood pressure by training for the San Francisco Marathon, I might grudgingly take it under advisement. But if I decide of my own free will to run the race, I’m far more likely to reach the finish line—especially if I’m running with friends.

High-functioning teams thrive on a creative tension between top-down and bottom-up goal setting, a mix of aligned and unaligned OKRs.

The more ambitious the stretch in the objective, the more conservatively people made their KRs—a classic unintended consequence.

please do your OKRs on time, grade your previous quarter’s OKRs, do a good job at it, and post them so that the OKR link from your moma [intranet] page works. This is not administrative busywork, it’s an important way to set your priorities for the quarter and ensure that we’re all working together.

“The single greatest motivator is ‘making progress in one’s work.’ The days that people make progress are the days they feel most motivated and engaged.”

As noted in chapter 4, the simple act of writing down a goal increases your chances of reaching it. Your odds are better still if you monitor progress while sharing the goal with colleagues—two

As noted in chapter 4, the simple act of writing down a goal increases your chances of reaching it. Your odds are better still if you monitor progress while sharing the goal with colleagues—two integral OKR features.

While OKRs are primarily a positive force for more, they also stop us from persisting in the wrong direction.

Whenever a key result or objective becomes obsolete or impractical, feel free to end it midstream. There’s no need to hold stubbornly to an outdated projection—strike it from your list and

Whenever a key result or objective becomes obsolete or impractical,

Whenever a key result

Whenever a key result or objective becomes obsolete or impractical, feel free to end it midstream. There’s no need to hold stubbornly to an outdated projection—strike it from your list and move on.