Most of us know what KPI’s are and hopefully why they are important and how they drive business success. Who has ever heard of the term OKR’s? I certainly hadn’t until I watched an insightful TED talk from John Doerr. John is an engineer and venture capitalist (an unlikely mix) with a powerful surname that’s for sure.
His talk focuses on OKR’s which stands for Objectives and Key Results and how OKR’s have helped such companies as Intel and Google to be the success they are. It’s a simple goal setting system that allows companies and individuals to set meaningful and audacious goals.
There are three components to setting OKR’s:
First comes the WHY.
As John says “truly transformational teams combine their ambition with their passion and purpose and they develop a clear and compelling sense of why. A compelling why is the launch pad for objectives.”
Second, comes the Objectives, which is the WHAT.
There is a great example in John’s talk of how the legendary rock singer Bono has used OKR’s to drive his charity forward. As Bono says, “with OKR’s the magic is just around the corner.”
Finally comes the Key Results, the HOW.
Google is a great example of this, where every quarter, every Googler (employee) writes down their OKR’s which are published for all to see. This helps with collective commitment and to truly stretch each person.
Imagine if everyone in your organisation was using OKR’s, and writing their own every 3 months – this is powerful stuff.
As John’s mentor, Andy Grove used to say, “It almost doesn’t matter what you know. Execution is what matters most.”
Enjoy the talk and thanks, John.
Roger Simpson – CEO, The Retail Solution and Author of “The Ultimate Retail Sales Experience” With over 35 years’ industry experience, Roger Simpson is recognized as Australia’s #1 Authority on customer ROI in the retail industry and as a global expert on staff coaching, customer service, and selling skills.
