High-Trust Organizations I recently found a very compelling article in Harvard Business Review focused on the many benefits of increasing trust in the workplace. The author, Paul J. Zak, notes that employees in high-trust organizations are more productive, have more energy at work, collaborate better with...
Simple Without Being Simplistic One of the biggest benefits of the OKRs framework is simplicity. Just four words: Objectives and Key Results, that represent two basic concepts: What do you want to do, and how you’ll know you’ve achieved it? This simple taxonomy is a great...
Will You SCORE With OKR? Here are five principles to keep in mind if you hope to succeed with your OKR implementation. S is for Strategy The first two questions you have to ask yourself when launching an OKRs program is: Why OKRs, and why now? Objectives and...
5 Whys To Wisdom Way back in a 1996 Harvard Business Review article authors Jim Collins and Jerry Porras introduced me to the concept of “5 Whys.”[i] The idea is simple: Whenever you’re faced with a challenging situation, ask the question why five times to reveal...
No Way Out! Have you ever had that dream where you’re trapped in a building, running down hallways, yanking open door after door, only to find yet another long empty hallway? At the very least it’s frustrating to be hopelessly lost without bearings, but it can...
Interleaving? Did you make that up? I know what you’re thinking: “What the %#a*$ is interleaving?” I know! I’ll answer that in a second. First, let’s talk about how some organizations go about developing OKRs. In my experience it’s not uncommon for groups to split the task...
OKR - Cart or Horse? OKRs have been proven to help overcome many vexing challenges that plague modern organizations. For example, they can: foster teamwork and collaboration, drive engagement through their mix of top-down and bottom-up development, and ensure your focus is fixed squarely on just...
OKR is About Best Practices One of the most refreshing aspects of the OKRs movement is the fact that the framework doesn’t suffer from a stack of restrictive rules. Fortunately for all of us there is no detailed manifesto of specific practices that must be followed...
Keep it Simple One of the biggest benefits of OKRs is that the framework is terminology light. Just three easy to understand words: Objectives and Key Results. This simple vocabulary allows people, even those brand new to the process, to quickly grasp the principles and begin...
Excess Access I recently heard a TV executive say that between broadcast networks, cable, and streaming outlets there are over 400 scripted shows running in the U.S. right now. Over 400! How are we supposed to keep up with them? Every time I chat with friends...