How to Write OKRs That Don’t Suck by Adrian Howard

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speaker: Adrian Howard
topic: How to Write OKRs That Don’t Suck
video: https://www.mindtheproduct.com/how-to-write-okrs-that-dont-suck-by-adrian-howard/
length: 25:09

Consultant, coach and trainer Adrian Howard has, over the years, seen many organisations attempt to implement Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), generally in response to a sense that “everything is wrong” and with a hopeful attitude of “these seem simple and clear”. In this MTP Engage Manchester talk, he explains how to write OKRS that, in his words, “don’t suck”.

Objectives and Key Results sound deceptively simple on paper. In theory, you set an organisational Objective (a vision or mission, perhaps?), and then work out what measurable Key Results would represent success. And then there is supposed to be an elegant cascade, where each business unit and team derives their smaller-scale OKRs from the structure above them.

Sadly, a lot of organisations fall into the trap of cargo-cult OKRs, where they expect the rituals to solve their problems while losing sight of the underlying thinking and practices. They look for tools to solve their problems as fast as possible. They expend a vast amount of energy trying to create their first ORKs, and then… they hope. They operate as if just having OKRs will somehow, magically, make them more efficient, aligned and successful.