Objectives and Key Results
Pair an ambitious objective with measurable results that reveal progress
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 99%
Objectives and Key Results separate direction from evidence. The objective states what must be achieved; each key result specifies how progress will be measured within a defined period. Doerr describes the system as a way to create focus, alignment, commitment, progress tracking, and stretch. At Google, employees wrote and shared quarterly OKRs, graded the prior period, and treated roughly 70 percent attainment as a good result for audacious goals. The grades were not used for bonuses or promotions, preserving OKRs as a shared operating contract rather than a compensation formula. The mechanism depends on selecting measures that genuinely direct effort toward the objective, because different key results can pull the same project in different directions.
Origin
Doerr learned Intel's management-by-objectives system from Andy Grove, renamed it OKRs, and introduced it to Google in 1999.
Core principles
- 01Define what you are trying to achieve
- 02Measure how the objective will be achieved
- 03Make progress visible to create alignment and commitment
- 04Stretch beyond guaranteed outcomes
- 05Keep evaluation separate from bonuses and promotions
How to run it
- 1
Define the objective
State what you are trying to achieve in clear, ambitious language. Keep it stable enough to guide the entire period.
Pro tip Use a timeless objective when the underlying mission will outlast one measurement cycle.
Watch out A list of hopes is not an executable objective.
- 2
Select key results
Choose quantitative, measurable, time-bound results that show how the objective will be achieved. Check that each measure drives the intended behavior.
Pro tip Prefer a small number of measures that express the outcome directly.
Watch out A convenient metric can direct the work away from the real objective.
- 3
Share the commitments
Publish the objective and key results to the people doing interdependent work. Use visibility to create focus, alignment, and mutual commitment.
Pro tip Leaders should share and grade their own OKRs too.
Watch out Visibility requires a culture that protects sensitive internal information.
- 4
Track the period
Review progress while there is still time to adjust execution. Keep attention on the measurable results rather than activity alone.
Watch out Do not wait until the end of the period to discover that the measure was poorly chosen.
- 5
Grade and reset
Grade the completed key results, learn from misses, and set the next period. Preserve ambitious objectives when a missed result reveals the need for a better attempt rather than abandonment.
Pro tip Treat partial attainment of a genuine stretch goal as information, not automatic failure.
Watch out Do not tie OKR grades directly to bonuses or promotions.
In the wild
Sundar Pichai translated the objective of building the world's best browser into a key result based on weekly active users. Chrome initially targeted 20 million users and missed. The team retained the objective, later set a target of 111 million weekly active users, and reached it.
→ One outcome measure focused the Chrome team and survived an initial missed stretch target.
Doerr set the objective of having a healthy family life. His key result was to be home for dinner by 6 PM on 20 nights each month and to be fully present without screens. He says he achieved about 70 percent of the stretch goal.
→ An abstract personal priority became a concrete, trackable behavior.
Common mistakes
Choosing a metric that redirects the work
Different key results can push the same objective in different directions, so a poor measure can reward the wrong outcome.
Treating a stretch miss as abandonment
Chrome missed its first user target but retained the objective and improved the next key result.
Using OKRs as compensation scores
Doerr says Google kept OKRs separate from bonuses and promotions so they could support audacious goals and collective commitment.
Is it for you?
Best for
Teams or individuals pursuing an ambitious outcome that needs visible measures of progress.
Not ideal for
Situations where the chosen result cannot be measured responsibly or would distort the underlying objective.
From the transcript
“OKRs stands for objectives and key results. The objective is what we're trying to achieve. The key result is how we're going to get it…”
“And Google does this to get everybody focused and aligned, committed, tracking their progress, and most of all, Jim, stretching for amazing, audacious, nearly impossible…”
“Now, at the end of a quarter, what they do is they sweep these aside because very importantly, they're not used for bonuses. They're not…”
From the episode
#543: Legendary Investor John Doerr on Picking Winners — From Google in 1999 to Solving the Climate Crisis Now
John Doerr