John Doerr’s book centres around a simple, yet powerful tool – OKRs expanded as Objectives & Key Results. Filled with examples as well as stories on how to go about implementing it, with examples of impact, which made it a simple yet profoundly insightful read. The whole concept is (almost blatantly) sold using the fact that Google used (and probably still uses) it extensively and so does other very successful Silicon Valley firms that John worked with.
I’m not going to repeat the central idea of the book, for that is definitely worthy of the time spent reading and assimilating and I’d highly recommend it. Here are four (selective & not comprehensive) underlying principles that I’d love to remember, in addition to the toolset
Ideas aren’t bound by hierarchy
The most powerful and energising ideas often originate with front line contributors. However, its not often that these get clearly elevated as a company wide priority and at the right level of granularity. Innovation tends to dwell less at the centre of an organisation that at its edges.
The most powerful OKRs typically stemmed from insights outside the C Suite. As Andy Grove (the legendary Intel leader) observed, “people in the trenches are usually in touch with the impending changes early. Sales people understand shifting consumer demands before management does. Financial analysts are the earliest to know when the fundamentals of a business change.
Since OKRs are not (necessarily) top-down, there are several examples sighted of how this can happen using the methods outlined in the book. Here’s one example –
As a YouTube product manager Rick was responsible for the site’s homepage, the third most visited in the world; the hitch – only a small fraction of users logged into the site and were therefore missing out on important features from saving videos to channel subscriptions.To solve the problem Rick devised a six month O.K.R. to improve the site’s login experience. They made their case to YouTube CEO, who consulted with the Google CEO (then Larry Page). Larry opted to elevate the login objective to google company wide OKR, but with the caveat: The deadline would be three months, not six.
Focus and commit to priorities
The art of management lives in the capacity to select from the many activities of seemingly comparable significance to one or two or three that provide leverage will be on the others and concentrate on them.
Align and connect for teamwork
In business, I have found, there isn’t really a single right answer. By using the reins and backing people to find the right answers, we help everybody win. High functioning teams thrive on a creative tension between top down and bottom up Goal setting.
Feedback
Reviews centres around five questions.
- What are you working on?
- How are you doing – how are the OKRs coming along?
- Is there anything impeding your work?
- What do you need from me to be more successful?
- How do you need to grow to achieve your career goals?
If you are looking for a more detailed reviews, I’d recommend this one