Why implementing OKRs

• Source: [ @doerr2018 Measure what matters: OKRs: the simple idea that drives 10x growth ]
• Tags: #management-books #effective-management #organization-change

OKRs (see: literature/202112050837 Definition of OKRs ) are a management tool (not an individual performance metric) that allow to align the interests within an organization. OKRs are based on absolute transparency and accountability within a group of people (see: literature/202210011658 The Five Dysfunctions of a Team ). There's no partial implementation, meaning that from the CEO downwards every person should define their own OKR and they should be publicly accessible.

In this way, the objectives of a company become publicly known, each department and each individual within them can align to the overall interests of the organization without having to receive explicit instructions. The power of the OKRs resides in the horizontal accountability. If objectives or key results are not met, a post-mortem can be performed to understand what happened and avoid the same failure in the future.

OKRs are a tool that allows to give freedom to employees, freedom to chose what to do and how to do it, provided that their activities align to an overarching view. In this way creativity is not hampered (new approaches and solutions can be tested), and more importantly, priorities can be set clearly. Tasks that do not bring the organization closer to their goals can be set aside for the time being. In other words, the power of OKRs resides in the ability to focus .