The Origin of OKRs

Welcome back, our OKR enthusiasts! This week, we'll take a dive into the past and learn about how OKRs came to be, what made them popular, and how you can become an OKR expert.

Let's start with the basics.

What are OKRs?

OKRs (short for Objectives and Key Results) is a strategy execution framework used by companies across the globe to grow at an exponential rate. Apart from strengthening the bridge between strategy and execution, OKRs are known to bring agility, transparency, and ownership among teams by connecting team contributions to company-level metrics.

One of the most important things about OKRs is that they are meant to be set as aspirational goals, and not be easy to achieve. When teams set OKRs together, they are able to connect their efforts to the big-picture company outcomes. Teams also come together to collaborate on shared commitments and call out the allegiance that each team has to another. OKRs, when executed correctly, will ensure that the fear of failure does not hold teams back.

How do OKRs work?

OKRs are time-bound; they are set at the beginning of each quarter. Once OKRs are set, teams can connect and align in OKRs and keep updating progress against outcomes through regular (i.e. weekly) check-ins.

The best practice is to set OKRs as teams. Teams succeed together and fail together. OKRs should, ideally, not be linked to performance/compensation reviews. However, this practice does not come at the cost of accountability - because although the Objective is set as a team, each KR has precisely one owner to drive progress.

Moreover, CFRs (conversation, recognition, and feedback) are the backbone of OKRs. Team members keep each other motivated as they experiment and stretch together to achieve audacious goals.

OKRs have it understood that reaching 100% progress is unlikely. However, by setting aspirational goals, teams usually end up achieving more than what they thought was possible. This is what makes OKRs a powerful tool for strategy execution, organizational growth, and team alignment.

Who came up with the idea of OKRs?

OKRs originated in the 1970s. Inspired by Peter Drucker's idea of Management by Objectives (MBOs), Andy Grove - the CEO of Intel - came up with the concept of OKRs (Objectives and Key Results).?

When Andy moved to Intel, he realized that the challenge lay in executing strategy the right way with a focus on achieving outcomes. He created the OKR framework and used it for Project Crush. He had a very popular saying:

“You either achieve it or you don't, there is no mid-way.”

Under his leadership, Intel grew from $1.9 billion to $26 billion and it would be unfair to leave OKRs out of the credit because it developed a radical focus amongst teams toward a shared vision.

In a world where ideas were priceless, Andy created an ecosystem where ‘execution was king’. He believed that without execution, ideas were mere concepts/theories.

A maverick who believed that every employee should create and own their goal and that every member of the company is significant to the success of the organization, Andy is undoubtedly the father of OKRs!

How did the Idea of OKRs spread?

John Doerr, an American investor and venture capitalist, was introduced to OKRs at Intel. In 1999, he invested almost $12 million in a start-up and introduced OKRs to them. The start-up was?Google, back when it had only 40 employees. Today, with 70,000+ employees across the globe, we can say that John Doerr's implementation of OKR methodology at Google was obviously successful – and OKRs are credited with Google’s meteoric growth. Doerr also introduced OKRs to other companies; some took up the framework on their own after being inspired by the journeys of others. Today, tech giants like Adobe, LinkedIn, and Spotify have taken on the OKR framework and framed their own success stories, as have thousands of Silicon Valley startups.?

How can I learn more about OKRs?

We have a bunch of free resources (ebooks, blogs, webinars, and podcasts) that you will find relevant, whether you are a CEO or someone who has newly joined a company that uses OKRs.?You can access them through our website.

For starters, we recommend checking out?our free introductory course:?get bite-sized pieces of information delivered right to your email. You can cover the whole course in a week, by putting in just an hour a day!

For enthusiasts who want to take the lead on successfully implementing OKRs in their company, we would suggest that you?sign up to become a certified OKR coach with us. Our certification course is known for teaching how to implement OKRs in a comprehensive way using case studies.

Don't forget to check out our article that dives deeper into the history of OKRs, with some cool trivia such as "What's the best book on OKRs?"

Fitbots is super committed to enabling organizations to get OKRs rollout right in the first attempt.?Our suite of OKRs software with on-demand coaching and OKRs certifications gives an integrated OKRs experience to teams.?Fitbots has worked with over 5000 teams and helped organizations move the needle on metrics that most impact business.?Please click here to take a?free trial of our OKRs software and talk to an OKRs expert.