LOVING this book, and it’s already made a big influence on my life.
Overview
Well-designed Objectives and Key Results (OKR’s) are a powerful goal setting methodology used by Intel, Google and many other organizations to keep focus on the things that matter most.
Gem of the day – Employee Engagement
Page 117: “The single greatest motivator is ‘making progress in one’s work.” The days that people make progress are the days they feel most motivated and engaged.” —Daniel Pink
Study after study laments the engagement level of employees in our workforce. Research also indicates that most employees WANT to contribute meaningfully and significantly to their organizations. If making progress is one of the keys to engagement, and organizations embrace the process for developing clear objectives (and it is a process), we can then move towards meaningful progress at the business AND personal level.
Putting to Use
One of the tenets of this methodology is that OKR’s should be transparent to others in the organization. There should also be the ability to clearly measure the results and determine if the objective was met. This allows for tracking, accountability and ensuring that redundant efforts are routed out, leading to greater efficiencies and consequential progress. As part of practicing the concept, I created the OKR below and offer it up as an example.
Kris’ First OKR:
Objective: Read and Digest “Measure What Matters” by May 31st
- Key Result #1: Read and collect all relevant notes from book by May 10th.
- Key Result #2: Prepare an executive summary/presentation to be delivered to a work team by May 31st.
- Key Result #3: Pilot OKR program by June 30th with one work team.
Now, for those who have read the book, please share your thoughts on what impacted you the most or OKR’s you’ve developed. For those who haven’t yet read this, I highly recommend it as you can apply the ideas in any area of your life.
Happy Monday!
Books:
- Measure What Matters: OKRs – The Simple Idea That Drives 10X Growth by John Doerr https://www.whatmatters.com/
- For some great reads on Motivation, check out Susan Fowler’s work: https://susanfowler.com/