1. The document discusses how company strategy is often disconnected from DevOps teams, lacking clear objectives and priorities. 2. It introduces OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) as a framework to link company strategy and missions to team objectives in a measurable way. 3. An example company implemented OKRs and saw improved focus, transparency, and alignment between teams and business goals as a result.

1. The missing link
Between company strategy and
Dev(Ops) teams
Bart den Haak, @bartdenhaak, leanbart.com

2. Independent Lean software development
consultant (LSD).
Past: entrepreneur, platform/software
architect, developer
Sports: Kite surfer, snowboarder, free athlete
Leanbart.com
bart@leanbart.com
LeanBart, @bartdenhaak

3. Focus on the wrong things (output)
PM MT CXO Self-Organized DevOps Teams

4. (Exaggerated?) example of “extant structure” — by Mark Walsh from Integration Training

5. Lack of motivation
Questions you can ask teams/individuals: Why do you come to
work?

6. Wrong Priorities

7. What is your company strategy?
Source: https://successfulculture.com/your-experience-is-your-blue-ocean-strategy/

8. The missing link: Disconnected company strategy
MISSION
VISION
STRATEGY
Why does the company exist
World picture of the future
Broad priorities
Agile / Lean Team(s)
?? ??

9. A perfect organization

10. What can we do?

11. Management by Objectives (MBO)
1954, Peter Drucker, Balanced Scorecard

12. The missing link
MISSION
VISION
STRATEGY
OBJECTIVES
Why does the company exist
World picture of the future
Broad priorities
What we will focus on in the next term
Agile / Lean Team(s)
?? ??

13. OKR to the rescue
Objective and key results (OKRs) is a
framework of defining and tracking
objectives and their outcomes.

14. OKR resurgence
First developed by Andrew Grove, VP Intel,
1970s
“This is why I’m so happy to see the resurgence of
OKR’s. When used properly, they help to reframe
this situation from output (features on
roadmaps) to outcome (business results).”
~ Marty Cagan, ex Senior VP Product Design,
eBay

15. The link - OKRs
MISSION
VISION
STRATEGY
OBJECTIVES
KEY RESULTS
Why does the company exist
World picture of the future
Broad priorities
What we will focus on in the next term
How we know we’ve achieved
An objective
Agile / Lean Team(s)
Input
for
concepts
Cash

16. OKR - Crash course
Andy Grove, CEO Intel (1987-1998) - Objectives & Key results.
Objective: An objective is a concise statement outlining a broad qualitative
goal designed to propel the organization forward in a desired direction.
“What do we want to do?” It needs to be aspirational
Key Results: A key result is a quantitative statement that measures the
achievement of a given objective.
“How will we know if we’ve met our objective”. Needs to be measurable
Every quarter you set and evaluate them. Max 5 Objectives and 5 Key results

17. Connecting OKRs
Company OKRs
Business Unit OKRs
Team OKRs
Individual OKRs
Business Unit OKRs
Team OKRs
Individual OKRs

18. OKR - An example
Objective: “Design a compelling website that attracts people to OKRs”
Key results:
● 20 percent of visitors return to the site in one week.
● 10 percent of visitors inquire about our training and consulting services.

19. ● Communication; Easy to understand system increases buy-in and use.
● Agility; Frequent cycles foster agility and change-readiness.
● Focus; OKRs ensure everyone is clear about what matters most.
● Transparency; Making measurable goals visible promotes cross-functional alignment.
● Engagement; Most OKRs originate bottoms-up so teams and individuals own their goals.
● Visionary thinking; OKRs stretch our thinking about what’s possible.
OKR benefits

20. An OKR case study

21. Hypothesis
OKRs will help teams with self-organization, company alignment and focus on
business value.
Hype or not?

22. Method used
Grounded theory:
Survey’s, memo’s, interviews.
Plan:
● Life before OKR a.k.a. “The benchmark”
● Life after OKR

23. Org chart
C-Office
Loyalty
Manager
eCommerce
Manager
DevOps Team DevOps Team
DevOps Team
Business Team Business Team

24. Participants
Developers: 15
Product owners: 2
Product & Business managers (Digital Marketing- & Shop Managers): 3
Executives (CEO/CFO) : 2

25. What is the company strategy 2017?

26. What is the company strategy 2017 - After OKR

27. What are the objectives for Q2?

28. What are the objectives for Q3? After OKR

29. What are your team objectives for Q2?
● Improve business KPI with X%: 50%
● Improve turnover with X%: 50%
When are the DevOps teams successful?
● If more than 50% of the releases contain business value.
● Delivery on time, Improved collaboration with the business teams
Survey results - Business Team - Before OKRs

30. What are your team objectives for Q3?
● When conversion is increased: 70%
● When net promoter score is increased: 15%
● Projects finished: 15%
When are the DevOps teams successful?
● No degradation in performance: 100%
Survey results - Business Team - After OKRs

31. What are your team objectives for Q2?
● Finish project X: 82%
● Fix/Reduce Defects: 18%
When is your team (devops) successful?
● When my project is finished and live: 52%
● If we have clear requirements before we start project Y: 8%
● Stable product, conversion on mobile increases: 16%
● We have created a framework to be proud at: 8%
● Don’t know: 16%
Survey results - DevOps Teams - Before OKRs

32. What are your team objectives for Q2?
● Finish project X: 100%. Note: everybody seems to be aligned.
When is your team (devops) successful?
● When my project is finished and live: 75%
● When we meet our objectives: 12,5%
● Lower defect rate: 12,5%
Survey results - DevOps Teams - After OKRs

33. What are your personal objectives for Q2 (devops)?
● Improve Quality of code/tests: 82%
● Fix/Reduce Defects: 18%
What are your personal objectives for Q2 (business)?
● Clear target definition for project: 50%
● Don’t know: 50%
Survey results - Personal Objectives - Before OKRs

34. What are your personal objectives for Q2 (devops)?
● Personal growth and learning new things : 37%
● Improvement of workflow and process 13%
● Innovation of technology: 50%
What are your personal objectives for Q2 (business)?
● Increase mobile conversion. 20%
● Don’t know: 80%
Survey results - Personal Objectives - After OKRs

35. Observations

36. What went wrong
● No strategy
● No kick-off with C-office
involvement
● Company Objectives/KR not
created from the start

37. Observations after OKRs
● Focus is there! Less items on the roadmap 2018. Less Tech
● ‘Missing’ of a good annual strategy becomes visible
● Beginning to ‘understand’ difference between OKRs and KPIs
● Start of reorg to BusDevOps teams!
● Executives enthusiastic about OKRs, feeling they get more visibility

38. A word about culture
Source: Dr. Ron Westrum, https://www.excella.com/insights/3-types-of-culture

39. Critics / Future work
● Longer measurement period (> 6 months), more significant?
● Are they better in self-organization?
● Can the study be used to benchmark OKRs?
● Or better...OKRs for OKR

40. Key takeaways
● The missing link between strategy and Dev(Ops) teams are the objectives
and key results.
● Self-organized teams need strategy and objectives from their leaders
● Common focus immediately visible after OKR implementation
● Survey can be used as benchmark for OKRs
● OKRs do not work in all company cultures

41. Thanks!
Twitter: @bartdenhaak
Linkedin: bartdenhaak
Email: bart@leanbart.com

42. References
LeanBart OKR Survey:
https://leanbart.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/OKR_Survey_Questions_2017_v2.pdf
OKRs at Google: https://youtu.be/mJB83EZtAjc
Dan North: https://dannorth.net/2017/05/01/applying-okrs/
What are self-organising teams: https://www.infoq.com/articles/what-are-self-organising-teams
Books:
● Objectives and Key results, Paul R. Niven, Ben Lamorte
● The Practice of Management, Peter F. Drucker