What is an OKR (Objectives and Key Results)
Also known as: Objectives and Key Results, OKR framework, OKR methodology
OKR, short for Objectives and Key Results, is a goal setting method in which each objective, what you want to achieve, comes with measurable key results that show whether it was reached. It was created by Andy Grove at Intel and taught to John Doerr, who named the method and introduced it to Google's founders in 1999. OKRs are usually set quarterly and kept separate from compensation.
A marketing team's quarterly objective: make the website the main source of new customers. Key results: increase quote requests from the site from 40 to 70 a month; lower cost per customer from the site from $300 to $220; publish 12 guides answering customers' most common questions.
The objective is qualitative and inspiring; the key results are numbers with a deadline that anyone can check at the end of the quarter.
Where it came from
According to What Matters, John Doerr's site, the method was created by Andy Grove at Intel, building on Peter Drucker's management by objectives. The main differences from it: OKRs are quarterly rather than annual, and they are separated from compensation.
Doerr learned the method from Grove, gave it the name OKR and presented it to Google's founders in 1999. Other companies and organizations later adopted the practice.
How to write a good OKR
- The objective says where you want to go, in clear, motivating language, without numbers.
- Each objective has a few key results, usually two to five.
- A key result is measurable and verifiable: it has a number and a deadline.
- A key result measures outcomes, not tasks: selling more is an outcome; launching the campaign is a task.
- Few objectives per team and per cycle, to keep focus.
Committed and aspirational
What Matters distinguishes committed OKRs, which must be met, from aspirational OKRs, which aim high on purpose and are not expected to be fully reached. Mixing the two without saying so confuses the team: a 70% result can be great for an aspirational OKR and poor for a committed one.
How to grade at the end of the cycle
| How it works | |
|---|---|
| Yes or no | Andy Grove's method: the result was met or not |
| Traffic light | Red, yellow and green, for failed, progressed and met |
| 0 to 1 scale | Google's method: a 0.0 to 1.0 score for each key result |
OKR and KPI
A KPI is an indicator tracked continuously to know whether the business is healthy, such as cost per customer or conversion rate. An OKR is a goal for change within a period. The two work together: a KPI that needs to improve often becomes a key result in the next quarter's OKR.
Frequently asked questions
What is an OKR?
A goal setting method in which each objective comes with measurable key results, usually set quarterly.
Who created OKRs?
Andy Grove, at Intel. John Doerr learned from him, named the method OKR and took it to Google in 1999.
What is the difference between an OKR and a KPI?
A KPI is an indicator tracked continuously to measure business health. An OKR is a goal for a period, with an objective and key results. A KPI can become a key result in an OKR.
How many key results should an objective have?
A few, usually two to five. More than that dilutes focus and makes it hard to know what really matters.
Should OKRs be tied to bonuses?
According to What Matters, one of the differences between OKRs and management by objectives is precisely that OKRs are kept separate from compensation.
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Rodrigo Fávaro
Founder of ROO3, a marketing and technology agency in São José do Rio Preto, Brazil. Builds AI products running in production (Tobia, gerar.app, Pense Mercado) and maintains the AI Benchmark, a public ranking of AI models.
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