Session slides from Future Insights Live, Vegas 2015: https://futureinsightslive.com/las-vegas-2015/ Christina Wodtke has devoted her career to tackling monumental tasks. She’s helped grow companies like LinkedIn, Yahoo, and the New York Times. Nowadays she works with startups and entrepreneurs, sharing her strategies for success and inspiring them to pursue big goals and outlandish dreams. Christina knows how to inspire diverse teams to work together, going all out in pursuit of a single, ultra-challenging goal. Hint: It’s not about to-do lists and accountability charts. How do you get your team to commit to bold goals? How do you stay motivated despite setbacks and disappointments? And is failure ever a viable option? Christina Wodtke will demonstrate how she uses objectives and key results to help teams tackle and realize big goals in a methodical way, leaving nothing to chance. You’ll learn the beauty of a good fail and how regular check-ins can keep you on track to success.

1. Accomplish Big Goals
With Objectives &
Key Results
@cwodtke | cwodtke@eleganthack.com
www.eleganthack.com

3. I have worked many great places
and done many impossible things.
Along the way, I have learned
important lessons I’m here to
share, including…

4. Don’t get sued

5. Once upon a time there was a start-up.

7. Hanna

8. Jack

12. Restaurant
Suppliers

14. Restaurant
Suppliers?
Hell no
Let’s talk to Jim

15. JimLet me tell
you a story

17. “I looked out the window at the Ferris wheel of the Great America
amusement park revolving in the distance, then I turned back to
Gordon and I asked,
“If we got kicked out and the board brought in a new CEO, what do you
think he would do?”

18. Gordon answered without hesitation,
“He would get us out of memories.”

19. “Why shouldn’t you and I walk out the door, come back and do it
ourselves?” Andy Grove

20. Jim
“let’s
pretend
we’ve
already
decided”

21. Hire a sales
guy? Change the
website…
Hire a sales
team.

22. Restaurant
Suppliers!
Restaurant
Suppliers!

23. But wait,
there’s
more!

24. OKRs
Objectives and Key Results

25. OKRs
Objectives
Key results

26. OKRs
O: Dream
KR: Success criteria

27. “Google did more than
adopt it,” says Doerr.
“They embraced it.”
OKRs became an essential component of Google
culture. Every employee had to set, and then
get approval for, quarterly OKRs and annual OKRs.”

28. OKRs
O: Qualitative
Shoot for the moon dream

29. Objective:
Establish epic
value to Northern
California
Restaurant
Suppliers
as the best tea
provider

30. OKRs
KR: Quantitative
“How do we know we met
the objective?

31. KR: Hire a sales guy
KR: redo the website
KR: Place ads in
Restaurant supply
magazines

32. Jim
Those are
tasks.
Not results.

33. KR: Reorders at 85%
KR: 20% of reorders
self-serve
KR: Revenue of
250K

34. Jim
You want
flexibility in
the how,
not the
what.

35. Your turn!
Objective:
KR
KR
KR

36. OKR Test
Objective: Is it
aspirational &
qualitative?
KRs: Is it a result or
a task?
Is it measureable?
Does it take a full quarter to achieve?
Is it really hard? 50% Confidence?

37. Objective: Establish
epic value to
suppliers
AND delight existing
customers with a
responsive customer
service team
AND new order flow online
to support reorders,
reducing calls by 50%

38. Team reluctantly agrees
Hell no

40. Team Wiffed ALL

42. I want you
to meet…

43. Raphael

45. You’re doing it
WRONG

46. FOCUS

47. objective

48. UNITES EFFORTS

49. Key Results

50. DEFINES SUCCESS

51. IT’S NOT
EVERYTHING
YOU DO

52. IT’S WHAT YOU
HAVE TO DO

53. CADENCE

54. Commitment
Mondays are for promises

55. Objective: Establish clear value to
distributers as a quality tea
provider
KR: Reorders at 85% 5/10
KR: 20% of reorders self-serve 5/10
KR: Revenue of 250K 5/10
Priorities this week
Next 4 weeks - Projects
OKR Confidence
Team Health:
Distributor satisfaction Health:
Health
Yellow
P1
P1
P1
Green
Close deal with TLM
Foods
Team struggling with direction
change
3 solid sales candidates
in for interview
Passive reorder notifications
New self serve flow for
distributors
Metrics for distributors on tea
sales
Hire Customer service head
New Order flow Spec’d

56. Objective: Establish clear value to
distributers as a quality tea
provider
KR: Reorders at 85% 5/10
KR: 20% of reorders self-serve 5/10
KR: Revenue of 250K 5/10
Priorities this week
Next 4 weeks - Projects
OKR Confidence
Team Health:
Distributor satisfaction Health:
Org Health
Yellow
P1
P1
P1
Green
Close deal with TLM
Foods
Team struggling with direction
change
3 solid sales candidates
in for interview
Passive reorder notifications
New self serve flow for
distributors
Metrics for distributors on tea
sales
Hire Customer service head
New Order flow Spec’d
Commitment!

57. Objective: Establish clear value to
distributers as a quality tea
provider
KR: Reorders at 85% 5/10
KR: 20% of reorders self-serve 5/10
KR: Revenue of 250K 5/10
Priorities this week
Next 4 weeks - Projects
OKR Confidence
Team Health:
Distributor satisfaction Health:
Org Health
Yellow
P1
P1
P1
Green
Close deal with TLM
Foods
Team struggling with direction
change
3 solid sales candidates
in for interview
Passive reorder notifications
New self serve flow for
distributors
Metrics for distributors on tea
sales
Hire Customer service head
New Order flow Spec’d
Commitment!
Heads up!

58. Objective: Establish clear value to
distributers as a quality tea
provider
KR: Reorders at 85% 5/10
KR: 20% of reorders self-serve 5/10
KR: Revenue of 250K 5/10
Priorities this week
Next 4 weeks - Projects
OKR Confidence
Team Health:
Distributor satisfaction Health:
Org Health
Yellow
P1
P1
P1
Green
Close deal with TLM
Foods
Team struggling with direction
change
3 solid sales candidates
in for interview
Passive reorder notifications
New self serve flow for
distributors
Metrics for distributors on tea
sales
Hire Customer service head
New Order flow Spec’d
Commitment!
Heads up!
Discussion &
Support!

59. Objective: Establish clear value to
distributers as a quality tea
provider
KR: Reorders at 85% 5/10
KR: 20% of reorders self-serve 5/10
KR: Revenue of 250K
Priorities this week
Next 4 weeks - Projects
OKR Confidence
Team Health:
Distributor satisfaction Health:
Org Health
Yellow
P1
P1
P1
Green
Close deal with TLM
Foods
Team struggling with direction
change
3 solid sales candidates
in for interview
Passive reorder notifications
New self serve flow for
distributors
Metrics for distributors on tea
sales
Hire Customer service head
New Order flow Spec’d
Commitment!
Heads up!
Discussion &
Support!
Protect what
matters

60. DEDICATION
TO YOUR GOALS
TO YOUR TEAM

61. Fridays are for
Wins & Wine
(or beer. or cake.)

62. Engineering demos

63. Engineering demos
Design demos

64. Engineering demos
Design demos
Sales & Bizdev shares wins

65. Engineering demos
Design demos
Sales & Bizdev shares wins
Beer

66. Everybody needs bragging time
• Motivates team to have
something to share
• Makes you feel like part of
something special
• Show progress

67. Back to the Team
We’re
doomed

68. You didn't
make your
OKRs…

69. "I don't think we're
marketing right"
"We had to deal with wrong
orders and late deliveries to
Los Gatos"
"We didn't hire a second
salesperson!"
"We had some problems
with the performance of the
site"

70. Hold on!
Most
companies
fail the first
time they
try OKRs

71. It’s OK.
We’re
trying
again… but
this time
One OKR for quarter

72. One OKR for quarter
Weekly check-ins
It’s OK.
We’re
trying
again… but
this time

73. It’s OK.
We’re
trying
again… but
this time
One OKR for quarter
Weekly check-ins
Friday Celebrations

75. Team made 2 of 3 KRs!

76. Metrics are growing!

77. Series A

78. Happily ever after?

79. WHY CAN’T WE
GET THINGS
DONE?

80. RADICAL FOCUS

81. Objective: Establish
epic value to
suppliers
AND delight existing
customers with a
responsive customer
service team
AND new order flow online
to support reorders,
reducing calls by 50%

82. Objective:
Establish epic
value to Northern
California
Restaurant
Suppliers
as the best tea
provider

83. Wait!
We can’t just
forget about
RevenueCodeHeal
thCustoemrSatisfa
ctionSalesHiring

84. PUSH VS PROTECT
Team Health:
Distributor satisfaction Health:
Org Health
Yellow
Green
Team struggling with direction
change
Objective: Establish clear value to
distributers as a quality tea provider
KR: Reorders at 85% 5/10
KR: 20% of reorders self-serve 5/10
KR: Revenue of 250K 5/10
OKR Confidence

85. COMMUNICATION

86. “WHEN YOU ARE TIRED
OF SAYING IT, THEY ARE
STARTING TO HEAR IT”
– JEFF WEINER

87. Objective: Establish clear value to
distributers as a quality tea provider
KR: Reorders at 85% 5/10
KR: 20% of reorders self-serve 5/10
KR: Revenue of 250K 5/10
Key Risk Factors: Need new self-serve system
up in first month
Priorities this week
Next 4 weeks - Projects
OKR Confidence
Team Health:
Distributor satisfaction Health:
Org Health
Yellow
P1
P1
P1
Green
Close deal with TLM Foods
Team struggling with direction
change
# solid sales canidates in for
interview
Passive reorder notifications
New self serve flow for distributors
Metrics for distributors on tea sales
Hire Customer service head
New Order flow
Monday

88. Restate that goal!
It’s a conversation
Objective: Establish clear value to
distributers as a quality tea provider
KR: Reorders at 85% 5/10
KR: 20% of reorders self-serve 5/10
KR: Revenue of 250K 5/10
Key Risk Factors: Need new self-serve system
up in first month
OKR Confidence

89. Do these efforts more us
closer to the goal?
Keep a backlog of ideas
Experiment with what impacts the
OKRs
FIGHT! ARGUE!
Priorities this week
P1
P1
P1
Close deal with TLM Foods
# solid sales canidates in for
interview
New Order flow

90. What are we doing next
toward that goal?
Make sure everyone know what’s
happening
Ask for help
Track trains that never arrive
Next 4 weeks - Projects
Passive reorder notifications
New self serve flow for distributors
Metrics for distributors on tea sales
Hire Customer service head

91. Is our goal hurting
anything we care about?
Team Health
Code Health
Customer Satisfaction
Revenues
Team Health:
Distributor satisfaction Health:
Org Health
Yellow
Green
Team struggling with direction
change

92. STATUS EMAILS

93. OKRS rewritten,
reevaluated in
every status

94. FRIDAYS

95. Restate the Goal in Wins
• Engineering demos
• Design shows
• Sales brags
• Customer service
stories
• Business
Development crows
• Everybody SHARES
WINS TOWARDS
GOAL

96. “WHEN YOU ARE TIRED
OF SAYING IT, THEY ARE
STARTING TO HEAR IT”
– JEFF WEINER

98. Important Unimportant
Urgent
Not Urgent
DO now!
Drop itPLAN it
Delegate

99. TOMORROW
NEVER COMES

100. MAKE IT URGENT

101. PLAN

102. JUST DO IT

103. LIES!

104. MISSION
Start here

105. Google
to organize the world‘s
information and make it
universally accessible and
useful

106. Amazon
“to be Earth’s most customer-
centric company, where customers
can find and discover anything they might
want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its
customers the lowest possible prices”

107. Philz mission is to “Better Peoples Day.”

108. All Are
• Short (or have a mini-version)
• Clear
• Inspirational
• Memorable

110. SET YOUR OKRS
WELL

111. Examples
• Product is embraced by the
marketplace
• Platform delights developers and
users
• Become the community online for
creatives

112. All Are
• Short (or have a mini-
version)
• Clear
• Inspirational
• Memorable

113. Does your objective make you jump out
of bed in the morning?

114. OBJECTIVE IS A
MISSION FOR
THREE MONTHS

115. GOOD KEY
RESULTS

117. HOW DO YOU
KNOW?

118. HOW DO I KNOW?
Ratings?
Sales?
Reviews?
Blog posts?
Articles?
Tweets?
Likes?

119. RESULTS vs TASKS

120. O: Book is available and
generating buzz
• Kr: Publish book on amazon
• Kr: Contact a PR person
• Kr: Give a keynote on book topic

121. O: Book is available and
generating buzz
• Kr: Review copies out to beta
customers and 100 influencers
resulting in 5 reviews of 4< stars
• Kr: Dec sales of 1K
• Kr: 5 cold leads for talks/workshops
from book

122. “WHAT GETS
MEASURED, GETS
MANAGED“
PETER DRUCKER

124. PREPARE TO FAIL

125. SAND-
BAGGING

126. OVER
REACHING

127. NO CADENCE

128. FAIL & LEARN

129. know your Mission
set your Objectives
choose your Actions
learn from your Results

130. do MOAR

131. BUT WAIT
THERE’S MORE

132. GOODBYE RATRACE

133. OBJECTIVE: BE
FINANCIALLY
STABLE, PRESERVE
HEALTH
DO WORK I LIKE.

134. KR: EARN 30K
OVER THREE
MONTHS DOING
WORK I’D DO EVEN
IF I WASN’T PAID

135. KR: HAVE A
MANAGEABLE
BUDGET TO
PREDICT
EXPANSES

136. KR: ZERO ACID
REFLUX, ZERO
BACK PAIN

138. HELLO, DREAMLIFE

139. Thanks to my awesome students in my Designer as Founder class. Especially
An, Justin, and Jack for their lead roles.
They were paid in pizza, just like a real startup.

140. Thank You
@cwodtke
www.cwodtke.com
I coach teams and
individuals to make
dreams into realities.
New Book coming soon!
Get notified at
alert.theexecutionerstale.
com

141. Tips on OKRS
• Set only 1 OKR for the
company, unless you have
multiple business lines. It’s
about focus.
• OKRs are not the only thing
you do, they are the one thing
you must do. Expect people to
keep the ship running
• Give yourself 3 months for an
OKR. How bold is it if you can
do it in a week?
• Keep the metrics out of the
• In the weekly check in, open
with company OKR then do
groups
• OKRs cascade; set company
OKRs, then groups/roles, and
then individual’s.
• Weekly OKR check in is a
conversation. Be sure to
discuss change in confidence,
health metrics and priorities
• Encourage employees to
suggest company OKRs.Learn more: http://www.eleganthack.com/the-art-of-the-okr/

142. FUNDAMENTALS

143. MISSION
Find your North Star

144. Google
to organize the world‘s
information and make it
universally accessible and
useful

145. Amazon
“to be Earth’s most
customer-centric
company, where customers can
find and discover anything they might
want to buy online, and endeavors to

146. Philz mission is to “Better Peoples Day.”

147. Eatclub
Bring Joy to Work
through Food

148. All Are
• Short (or have a mini-
version)
• Clear
• Inspirational

150. WHAT’S YOUR
MISSION?

151. SET YOUR OKRS
WELL

152. Examples
• Product is embraced by the
marketplace
• Platform delights
developers and users
• Become the community

153. All Are
• Short (or have a mini-
version)
• Clear
• Inspirational
• Memorable

154. Does your objective make you jump out of
bed in the morning?

155. Is it hard to do (but possible with effort) in one
quarter?

156. GOOD KEY
RESULTS

158. HOW DO YOU
KNOW?

159. HOW DO I KNOW?
Ratings?
Sales?
Reviews?
Blog posts?
Articles?
Tweets?
Likes?

160. RESULTS vs TASKS

161. O: Book is available and
generating buzz
• Kr: Publish book on amazon
• Kr: Contact a PR person
• Kr: Give a keynote on book topic

162. O: Book is available and
generating buzz
• Kr: Review copies out to beta
customers and 100 influencers
resulting in 5 reviews of 4< stars
• Kr: Dec sales of 1K
• Kr: 5 cold leads for talks/workshops
from book

164. “WHAT GETS
MEASURED, GETS
MANAGED“

165. Rule of thumb for product
OKRs
KR 1: Revenue
KR 2: Adoption or usage (users)
Kr 3: Satisfaction

166. ARE MY GOALS
DIFFICULT?But not impossible

168. PLANNING WITH
OKRS

169. THE CONE OF UNCERTAINTY
I can predict
what will
happen
tomorrow
I can guess
about next
month
I’m lying to myself
if I say I know
what’s happening
next year

171. 4 O, 3 KRS

172. O: POSITION BOOK
IN MARKETPLACE
Kr: book published
digitally on amazon
Kr: review copies out to
beta customers and 100
influencers resulting in 5
reviews of 4< stars
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4O: EPIC BOOK
ADOPTION
O: OKR
CONFERENCE
O: SECOND
BOOK IN
MARKETPLACE

173. Act as if it were true
Until it’s proven wrong
Then adjust

174. COMMIT WEEKLY

175. Objective: Establish clear value to
distributers as a quality tea provider
KR: Reorders at 85% 5/10
KR: 20% of reorders self-serve 5/10
KR: Revenue of 250K 5/10
Key Risk Factors: Need new self-serve system
up in first month
Priorities this week
Next 4 weeks - Projects
OKR Confidence
Team Health:
Distributor satisfaction Health:
Org Health
Yellow
P1
P1
P1
Green
Close deal with TLM Foods
Team struggling with direction
change
# solid sales canidates in for
interview
Passive reorder notifications
New self serve flow for distributors
Metrics for distributors on tea sales
Hire Customer service head
New Order flow
Mondays each team lead shares:
• Week’s Priorities ( to get help & make
commitment)
• Near term roadmap (heads up!)
• OKR confidence
• Key health indicators

176. SLOT IN EFFORTS TOWARD
OBJECTIVE
Keep a backlog of ideas
Experiment with what impacts the
OKRs
Priorities this week
P1
P1
P1
Close deal with TLM Foods
# solid sales canidates in for
interview
New Order flow

177. HEADS UP
Make sure everyone know what’s
happening
Ask for help
Track trains that never arrive
Next 4 weeks - Projects
Passive reorder notifications
New self serve flow for distributors
Metrics for distributors on tea sales
Hire Customer service head

178. IS CONFIDENCE UP OR
DOWN?
It’s a conversation
Objective: Establish clear value to
distributers as a quality tea provider
KR: Reorders at 85% 5/10
KR: 20% of reorders self-serve 5/10
KR: Revenue of 250K 5/10
Key Risk Factors: Need new self-serve system
up in first month
OKR Confidence

179. Health Metrics
Team Health
Code Health
Customer Satisfaction
Revenues
Team Health:
Distributor satisfaction Health:
Org Health
Yellow
Green
Team struggling with direction
change

180. PUSH VS PROTECT
Team Health:
Distributor satisfaction Health:
Org Health
Yellow
Green
Team struggling with direction
change
Objective: Establish clear value to
distributers as a quality tea provider
KR: Reorders at 85% 5/10
KR: 20% of reorders self-serve 5/10
KR: Revenue of 250K 5/10
Key Risk Factors: Need new self-serve system
up in first month
OKR Confidence

181. STATUS EMAILS

183. CELEBRATE

184. Who celebrates?
• Engineering demos
• Design shows
• Sales brags
• Customer service stories
• Business Development crows
• Everybody SHARES WINS

185. LEARN

186. SAY DO
]
Why?

187. WHY?

188. “WHEN YOU ARE
TIRED OF SAYING IT,
THEY ARE STARTING
TO HEAR IT”

189. HOW TO

190. ARE MY GOALS
DIFFICULT?But not impossible

192. Timeline
2 weeks before the end of
the quarter, your know
how you’ve done with
your OKRs

193. Timeline
2 weeks before the
quarter, start setting
OKRs

194. Timeline EoQ
1. Review OKRs, and call
them
2. Write out
accomplishments

195. Timeline B0Q
1. Gather company input
2. Execs set company
goals
3. Teams set goals

196. Team goals
• Pick as aspect of the
company OKRs you can
own
• Make new OKRs from it

198. PERFORMANCE

199. Performance Reviews
Don’t
• Wait until he end of the
year
• Base them on OKR
completion (leads to
sandbagging)
• Dawdle or procrastinate
• Try to be a buddy
Do
• Have them quarterly
• Have the employee write a
500 word essay on her
accomplishments
• Be quick, light and frequent
• Be fact based
• Be compassionate

202. Thanks to my awesome students in my Designer as Founder class. Especially
An, Justin, and Jack for their lead roles.
They were paid in pizza, just like a real startup.