We haven’t prioritized our goals
“If everything is important, nothing is important.”
We haven’t communicated the goal the goal obsessively and comprehensively
“When you are tired of saying it, people are starting to hear it.” — Jeff Weiner
We don’t have a plan to get things done
When people want to lose weight, they do better with Weight Watchers than willpower. When people want to get fit, they do better with personal trainers than willpower. That's because willpower is a finite resource.
You need a process that helps you make sense of the work you need to do and keeps you on track even when you are tired. The process reminds you what to do, even when you don't feel like doing it.
We haven’t made time for what matters
“What is important is seldom urgent, and what is urgent is seldom important.” — Dwight Eisenhower
There is nothing as invigorating as a deadline. By committing every Monday to work toward the Objective, you assure you'll be held accountable to progress.
We give up instead of iterating
When I work with clients to implement OKRs, I give them a warning: You will fail the first time. They do all fail, but they all fail in their own special way. The most common fail is not tracking effort towards OKRs
Successful companies are all alike in the same way: After they fail, they try again. They learn from the failure and adjust their approach. The only hope for success in any endeavor is iteration.
The Objective is qualitative, and the Key Results (most often three) are quantitative. OKRs are used to focus a group or individual around a bold goal. The Objective establishes a goal for a set period of time, usually a quarter. The Key Results tell you if the Objective has been met by the end of that time.
An Objective is like a mission statement, only for a shorter period of time. I think of it like this: A mission is an Objective for five years, and an Objective is a mission for three months. Key Results take all that inspirational language and and quantify it.
“The Objective’s job is to get people jumping out of the bed in the morning with excitement.”
The rule of three Key Results is not a rule. It's more of a guideline. For reasons stated earlier, you really don't want too many elements to a goal if you want it to be remembered and lived. But if you only have one OKR set and people only have to remember the Objective and the particular Key Results they can affect, it's not a problem.
Using OKRs helps you move the team from output thinking to outcome thinking. It may take a few tries, but you will be more successful once you focus on outcomes.
Common pairs include long term/short term, qualitative/quantitative, process/outcome, internal/external. These pairs make sure that, in the words of Grove, "both effect and counter-effect are measured." Some things to consider as you develop Key Results: