Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)
Align teams around measurable outcomes and ambitious shared goals
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 99%
Objectives and Key Results translate strategic intent into a recurring execution system. An objective states the important qualitative outcome, while its key results define the measurable evidence that the outcome is being achieved. Participants publish their OKRs so dependencies, priorities, and progress are visible across the organization. During the cycle, teams track results and adjust their work without quietly changing the intended destination. At the end, they grade performance, learn from the gap between ambition and achievement, and replace the completed set with a new one. Keeping OKR scores separate from bonuses and promotions encourages honest stretch goals rather than conservative commitments. The mechanism creates focus, alignment, commitment, transparency, and a shared cadence for pursuing difficult outcomes.
Origin
Andy Grove invented the system at Intel to coordinate highly precise semiconductor work. John Doerr later introduced it to organizations including Google and the Gates Foundation.
Core principles
- 01Define what must be achieved before choosing activities
- 02Measure progress through specific observable results
- 03Make goals visible to create collective accountability
- 04Separate developmental goal scoring from compensation decisions
- 05Use ambitious goals to focus effort and encourage breakthroughs
How to run it
- 1
Define the objective
State a significant qualitative outcome that gives the team a clear direction. Keep it memorable enough to guide day-to-day trade-offs.
Pro tip Use active language that describes a meaningful change rather than an ongoing activity.
Watch out Do not disguise a task list as an objective.
- 2
Specify key results
Create a small set of numeric, time-bound results that demonstrate whether the objective was achieved. Each result should be independently verifiable.
Pro tip Choose outcome measures rather than counts of meetings, messages, or other activity.
Watch out Vague or unmeasurable results eliminate the system's accountability.
- 3
Publish the commitments
Make individual and team OKRs visible throughout the organization. Visibility helps people coordinate work and detect conflicting priorities.
Pro tip Review related teams' OKRs for dependencies before finalizing the cycle.
Watch out Private goals cannot create organization-wide alignment.
- 4
Track progress
Review key-result movement during the cycle and redirect effort when progress stalls. Preserve the objective while adapting the tactics used to reach it.
Pro tip Use a consistent review cadence so problems surface before the end of the quarter.
Watch out Waiting until the final grading session turns measurement into an autopsy.
- 5
Grade and learn
Score each key result at the end of the cycle and discuss what produced the outcome. Treat shortfalls as evidence for improving assumptions and execution.
Pro tip Record the lesson behind each score, not merely the number.
Watch out Tying every score directly to compensation encourages easily achievable goals.
- 6
Reset the cycle
Sweep aside the completed OKRs and establish the next set based on current priorities and lessons. Carry an objective forward only when it remains strategically important.
Pro tip Use the reset to remove obsolete work rather than accumulating permanent goals.
Watch out Do not preserve an OKR solely because the organization has already invested in it.
In the wild
John Doerr introduced OKRs to Larry Page and Sergey Brin during Google's early development. Google adopted a quarterly practice in which employees write objectives and key results, publish them across the company, and grade them at the end without using the scores directly for bonuses or promotions.
→ The recurring system helped a rapidly growing organization maintain focus, alignment, commitment, and progress toward stretch goals.
Common mistakes
Measuring activity instead of outcomes
Completing tasks does not prove that the intended result occurred. Key results should capture externally observable progress.
Keeping goals private
Hidden objectives prevent teams from coordinating dependencies and weaken the social commitment created by transparency.
Using scores as compensation formulas
When every score controls pay or promotion, participants tend to select safe goals rather than stretching for difficult results.
Is it for you?
Best for
Organizations that need many people or teams to coordinate around ambitious priorities.
Not ideal for
Stable individual tasks where the required procedure and output are already completely defined.
From the transcript
“objectives and key Results or okay RS is a goal setting system that Andy Grove invented an Intel”
“every Googler every quarter writes down her objectives and key results and publishes them for the entire company to see.”
“They serve a higher purpose, and that's a collective social contract to get everybody focused and aligned and and committed and tracking their progress to…”
From the episode
John Doerr on Sustainable Investments (Podcast)
John Doerr