OKRs for All

CHAPTER 10The Most Common Questions About OKRs (and Their Answers)

Over the years, my team and I have compiled a list of the most frequently asked questions about OKRs. I'd like to share these questions—and answers—with you in case these are considerations you are wondering about, too.

What If We Don't Reach 100% of Our Goals?

In many measurement or goal frameworks, missing the target is considered a failure. OKRs, on the other hand, are about stretching past our known limits and connecting every team to the organization's purpose and business strategy. The OKR mindset encourages aspirational targets that feel slightly out of reach. A good rule of thumb is that you want to hit 70% of each aspirational OKR.

Remember that effort now pays off later. Setting strong organizational objectives provide employees with guiding principles that give them agency to operate, and as you move through the organization, outlining measurable key results gives your teams specific direction and actionable targets.

This process is about progress over perfection. The process gets easier over time, but the focus is on the behavior and the outcomes being driven as a result of the process. You're looking at the end game, not getting it right out of the gate.

We Use Agile—Why Do We Need OKRs?

Agile is an approach to project management and software development with a goal of easing the load associated with major launches by breaking work into small, consumable increments, with a continuous and iterative ...