CHAPTER 1What Is OKRs Coaching? Why Is It So Important Now?

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING I learned in graduate school was not part of the engineering curriculum. It was something I learned from Dennis Matthies, a lecturer in the 1990s at Stanford's Center for Teaching and Learning. As part of his Accelerated Learning course, Matthies explained that prior to embracing a new skill, you should reflect on why you've chosen to take on the challenge in the first place. He presented data and shared examples to back this up. It seems obvious to me now; learning is accelerated when we can clearly explain why we're putting in the time to develop new skills. So, building off Dennis's teachings, let's explore why now is the right time to develop OKRs coaching skills.

This chapter begins with a brief recap of the history of OKRs. It describes how OKRs coaching demand emerged in the 2010s and started growing exponentially in 2018 into a mainstream business practice across the globe. After presenting the definition of OKRs coaching, the chapter ends with excerpts from actual coaching sessions to make the definition more concrete. The goal of this first chapter is for you to clearly state why OKRs coaching is important right now and why you have chosen to develop your coaching skills.

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