For the third in my series of “Courting OKRs Controversy” articles I’ve chosen a topic that at first glance may appear to have an obvious answer, especially if you’re a true believer in the methodology. Before revealing that answer let me introduce the question: Is it factual to suggest that every type of organization, regardless of culture or size, will be a good fit for OKRs? Will any enterprise be able to apply the framework successfully, and generate significant benefits from an implementation? You probably guessed it, the obvious answer is yes. I would wager that most pundits and practit ..read more

Before typing the words you’re currently reading I’d been staring at a blinking cursor for a solid twenty minutes. You might think I was suffering from a case of writer’s block, just couldn’t find the perfect sentence to kickstart this article into gear, or like most writers was excelling at the fine art of procrastination. But you’d be wrong. My problem was that I couldn’t concentrate because of the racket coming from an adjacent room where two family members were going at it tooth and nail over the merits of two candidates running in a certain upcoming U.S. election. But then, amidst that ch ..read more

For the first installment in my series, Courting OKRs Controversy I’m going to cheat a bit here and quote directly from my latest book, “OKRs For Dummies.” Here’s what I had to say on the issue of Metric vs. Milestone Key Results: Over the years I’ve encountered many OKRs Coaches who insist there is no place in the model for milestone key results. According to these pundits, you must focus exclusively on metric key results that indicate business value or impact. Anything less and you risk, in their opinion, turning OKRs into a glorified to-do list. While I agree that you should never have all ..read more

Have all the Good Words Been Written About OKRs? With much respect to all the OKRs Coaches who write articles offering “6 tips for this” or “7 Mistakes to avoid on that,” (and I include myself in that group) the world doesn’t need another trove of tips or an artistically rendered OKRs cheat sheet. Frankly, we’re drowning in them. So what do we write about? Owing to the system’s proven effectiveness in driving focus, alignment, and engagement across countless global implementations, OKRs have ascended the popularity chart faster than any management tool I’ve witnessed in my three decades in the ..read more

The Mountain & The Quest At the end of June 2023, I climbed Mount Rainier with a group of friends all in our 40s and 50s for 3 days.  The mountain is located just outside Seattle, Washington and is one of the tallest mountains in the continental US at 14,410 feet above sea level.  Climbing the mountain became a long-term goal for me ever since I lived in Seattle working for Amazon.  A group of us attempted to climb the mountain in 2021, but the Seattle region experienced a record breaking heat wave during the week we attempted the climb.  The weather ultimately prevente ..read more

Good is Good Enough? Do you ever find yourself saying, “that’s good enough” about something? I do it all the time, and I’ll bet you do too. Like when I’m patching a small hole with spackle, I’m not aiming for the smooth perfection of a marble tabletop. Getting the hole covered and painted is good enough. Or when ridding our yard of the seemingly millions of leaves carpeting the ground each fall. Do I have to round up each and every stray leaf? Of course not, getting most of them bagged is good enough. Unless you’re performing brain surgery, good enough is often, well, good enough. Unfortunatel ..read more

Thud! That’s the sound of John Doerr’s bestselling book “Measure What Matters” hitting your desk, followed soon after by your boss’s voice recommending, not so gently, that you read it ASAP. Why?  Because your organization is going to be joining countless others in implementing the most powerful strategy execution methodology sweeping the globe – Objectives & Key Results, known as OKRs.  Or…so says your boss. Is it worth it? At that point you wonder, “Is it worth it?” Not just for the organization but for you as a leader. Should you put your most valuable reso ..read more

OKRs & Zombies? I’m sitting in my office enjoying a glass of red wine and finishing up some to-do items. Meanwhile, I can hear the television downstairs as my wife watches The Walking Dead series, again.  I’ve never been a big fan of the series, although I know it’s popular.  Since I always have ChatGPT open on my desk these days, on a whim I asked ‘Hal’ (my name for the AI chatbot) this question: What does The Walking Dead TV series have in common with Objectives & Key Results?  I figured for sure I would stump Hal with this question.  Hal’s answer blew me away! Ch ..read more

OKRs v. EOS, Which Path is Right for Your Company? The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) and Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) are both popular frameworks for setting goals and managing performance in organizations. Since I have extensive experience with both frameworks, both as an executive as well as a Consultant I am frequently asked for my opinion about the two frameworks.  The simple answer, and what I tell our clients is: ‘I like them both!’  This may seem like a fence-riding answer, but its the honest truth. I realize that’s not a very satisfying answer though,  so l ..read more

Thud! That’s the sound of John Doerr’s bestselling book “Measure What Matters” hitting your desk, followed soon after by your boss’s voice recommending, not so gently, that you read it ASAP. Why?  Because your organization is going to be joining countless others in implementing the most powerful strategy execution methodology sweeping the globe – Objectives & Key Results, known as OKRs.  Or…so says your boss. Is it worth it? At that point you wonder, “Is it worth it?” Not just for the organization but for you as a leader. Should you put your most valuable resources ..read more