Plan and Execute for
Success with the
OKR Method
Objectives and Key Results
Davender Gupta, MS, MBA, DTM
davender@davender.com
April 2021
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What were your New Years
Resolutions?
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So… how’d that turn out?
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Why we set goals
Direct focus
Measure progress
Manage resources
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SMART Goals
https://www.perdoo.com/resources/okr-vs-smart-goals/
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SMART Goals
Clear
Focused
Structured
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Can SMART Goals survive…
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… in a hostile and unpredictable environment
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What if you cannot predict the
future?
• Environment is in flux
• Unvalidated assumptions
• You can’t count on the past
to plan the future
When everything is unpredictable –
are SMART goals really smart?
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Instead of « goals », consider
« objectives »
• What is a significant change
you want to create?
• How will you know you have
arrived?
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Instead of controlling the future, choose it…
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When you reach
the end date, is
the goal still
relevant?
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THE MAIN THING
IS TO KEEP
THE MAIN THING
THE MAIN THING.
- Stephen Covey
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Objectives and Key Results
Andy Grove – Intel
John Doerr – VC, Google
MEASURE WHAT MATTERS
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Objectives and
Key Results
OBJECTIVE
Where do we want to go?
Why?
KEY RESULTS
How will we know we have
arrived?
ACTION
What actions do we need
to take to get there?
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OKR Advantages
ENGAGEMENT FOCUS AGILITY ACTION TRANSPARENCY
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Objectives and Key Results
1.Choose an area of focus
2.Choose a target date
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Question 1
• What is a significant and inspiring
change you want to see between now
and the target date?
Describe this change in a QUALITATIVE
way
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How does this change add value?
How does change inspire you?
Find Your Why
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Your
OBJECTIVE
A significant and
inspiring change
which adds value
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Question 2
How can you MEASURE that you
have succeeded in making this
change?
• List three to five
quantitative metrics
that are the RESULTS
of your actions (not your actions)
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For each metric, assign a level of difficulty
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« green »
(achievable with
a normal effort)
« yellow »
(achievable with
a focused effort)
« red »
(very ambitious,
a moonshot)
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For your metrics that are « green », how
can you plus them
so that they are at least
« yellow »?
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Key Results
No more than one KR should be
« green » ou « red ».
From your list of metrics, choose
Three Key Results
(KR)
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Express your OKR in the format
For [target date]
I will [Objective]
As measured by
[list of key results]
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Actions
Now, for each Key Result, list one
Action that you will take in the next
week towards that Key Result
At the end of the week, check your
progress towards your Key Result.
 If you are moving the needle,
continue the Action
 If you are not moving the needle,
consider changing your Action
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Sanity Check
• Your Objective triggers a significant and inspiring change
• Your Objective « changes the game »
• Your Objective adds meaningful value
• Your KRs are measurable and describe the change,
not your actions
• Your KR can be measured by an outside observer
• Your OKR is achievable with focused effort
Make sure your OKR is:
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OKR vs SMART
SMART
Single level
Fixed
Causal
OKR
Several levels
Agile
Effectual
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Instead of controlling
your future, choose it
The future is unpredictable
The possibilities are infinite
The opportunities are everywhere
Go beyond resilient - be antifragile
Your decision strategy should enable
you to benefit from
uncertainty and unpredictability
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https://felipecastro.com/en/
https://whatmatters.com
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For more information
Davender Gupta MS, MBA
• Venture Catalyst – The Scaleup Project
• Industrial Technology Advisor – National Research Council
Canada (NRC-IRAP)
• Lecturer in Entrepreneurship – University of Québec at
Montréal (ESG UQAM)
davender@davender.com
davender.com
linkedin.com/in/coachdavender
514-296-6288
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