Objectives and Key Results (OKR) is a popular leadership process for setting, communicating and monitoring quarterly goals and results in organizations. I have summarized the overview of OKR and key points to implement to an organization through my experience to launch it to my company.

1. OKR Introduction
Jan 02, 2019
Yoshiaki Ieda
COO, Cinnamon Inc.

2. Cinnamon Inc. has launched OKR for its official HR system since January
2019.
As I led the OKR launch project, I am sharing the overview of OKR and the
key points toward the successful launch of OKR.
It will be great if you can use this slide as a supplemental document as
there are many great references for you to understand OKR well.
Background
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3. OKR is a management framework to make it clear the most important thing,
organize everyone’s effort, and collaborate.
Create the clear Objective and the collaborative teamwork.
 Focus
An organization with good OKR focus on the most important thing. OKR makes a
leader choose. OKR brings a clear communication to department, team, and
individual.
 Alignment
With the transparency system, OKR makes everyone’s work open and
transparent. Individual connects its objective to the company strategy and
understands the complemental relations with other department.
 Tracking
OKR is based on data. Periodical tracking, objective evaluation, continuous
assessment make it live. Avoid subjective view and make the responsibility very
clear. Take actions if OKR is on risk or adjust the OKR if necessary.
 Stretch
OKR encourages to achieve stretching performance. Drive creativity and
aspiration by tackling with limitations and accepting failures.
OKR - Objective
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4. OKR (Objective and Key Results) is a management framework to make it
clear the most important thing, organize everyone’s effort, and collaborate.
Create the clear Objective and the collaborative teamwork.
MBO is a management system developed by Peter Drucker. OKR is made
by Andy Grove, one of the founders and the CEO of Intel. Then, John Doerr,
a legendary Silicon Valley Venture Capital, introduced OKR to Google. Now,
OKR is used in many Silicon Valley startups and globally.
What is OKR?
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1954 1968 1974 1999
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5. Objective:
What we need to achieve. Winning aspirations.
It is ambitious, and we should feel somewhat uncomfortable
Key Results:
Measurements to monitor what extend we achieve the objective.
Good KR is measurable and clear with Achieving or Not achieving with clear
timeline.
What are the key feature of OKR?
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Review Cycle Quarterly
Measurement Quantitative
Openness Everyone opens and shares
Success rate Almost 50%
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6. Good Key Results follow SMART framework mentioned below.
Key Result types:
• 0-100% progress
• Any % value, or X% to Y% change
• Numbers
• Items, units, articles, people
• Grade, Rating
• Milestones, project phases, deliverables
Key points for developing Key Results
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7. OKR has clear structure from Company to Individual.
What does OKR like?
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Company OKR
Department OKR
Individual OKR
General Manager
Objective: Make money for Owners
Key Results:
1: Win Super Bowl
2: Fill stands to 90%+
Head Coach
Objective:
Win Super Bowl
Key Results:
1: Acquire 300+ yards by Pass Offence
2: Protect 17- pts by Defense
3: Top3 Ranking in Kicking game
Marketing Vice President
Objective:
Fill stands to 90%+
Key Results:
1: Improve team branding
2: Increase media exposure
3: Activate promotion program more
Offence Coach
Objective:
Acquire 300+ yards by Pass
Key Results:
1: Pass success rate at 65%+
2: Pass cut max 1 per game
3: Hire a new Pass coach
Defense Coach
Objective:
Protect 17- pts by Defense
Key Results:
1: Protect 100- yards by Run
2: Make 3 QB sacks per game
3: Grow All-star class QB
Kicking Coach
Objective:
Top 3 ranking in Kicking game
Key Results:
1: Ave 10- yards per punt return
2: 4 Punt block in the season
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8. OKR has clear structure from Company to Individual.
OKR mistakes
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General Manager
Objective: Make money for Owners
Key Results:
1: Win Super Bowl
2: Fill stands to 90%+
Marketing Vice President
Objective: Fill stands to 90%+
Key Results:
1: Improve team branding
2: Increase media exposure
3: Activate promotion program more
Objective is not aspirational nor
motivating.
Key Results are not measurable.
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9. CFRs and OKRs reinforce effectively. CFR provides transparency,
responsibility, empowerment, and teamwork. We will conduct the CFR
process together with OKR.
Conversations – exchanges between managers and employees with the
goal of driving performance.
Feedback – bidirectional feedback, similar to bottom-up goal setting in
OKRs, to evaluate progress and course correct for future efforts.
Recognition – expressing appreciation to individuals for their contributions.
Together the three components foster transparency, accountability,
engagement, and teamwork throughout the organization.
OKR and CFR
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10. OKR progress / result do not corelate to Evaluation because the main
objective of OKR is connecting everyone’s effort to one direction.
OKR and Evaluation
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Key Result Progress Evaluation Assessment
Acquire 10 new customer 70% 5 The economy went down, and the market
was very tough. Acquiring 7 new
customers is a good performance.
Acquire 10 new customer 100% 4 He achieved the KR in 6 weeks. The KR
was not stretching enough.
Acquire 10 new customer 80% 3 He acquired 8 new customers by luck
because one customer brought 5 new
customers.
Acquire 10 new customer 90% 2 He acquired 9 new customers, but 7
customers do not create any revenue.
OKR progress and Evaluation example
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11. John Doerr said that many of the organizations which implemented OKR
faced challenges to adapt the new system. We also expect the same
challenges at our company.
We also think that the first OKR is not perfect, and so let’s improve the new
system by providing feedback together!
OKR continuous improvements
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John Doerr
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12. • Start earlier
OKR can even work for a small group. It also take time to make OKR as a
habit in your organization. So, if you consider OKR as your organization’s
system, it is better to start earlier.
• Go smaller
When you launch OKR, it is better to start by a pilot plan. Take for instance.
Start between the management team or a department/group. Launching a
new system widely to the whole company would cause some frictions.
Then, experimenting it in a small group to understand Pros/Cons of the
system helps you roll out better.
Start earlier, go smaller
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13. Appendix

14. FAQ
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What’s the difference between OKR and MBO?
OKR and MBO are both goal setting frameworks. OKR is an extension of
MBO with a focus on measuring the outcomes of the Objectives using Key
Results. OKR measures Quantitative only while MBO measures both
Quantitative and Qualitative.
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15. FAQ
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What’s the difference between OKRs and KPI’s?
OKRs and KPIs are similar but there are small but important differences.
OKRs provide the missing link between ambition and reality. They help you
break out of the status quo and take you into new, often unknown, territory.
If you have a big dream – an inspiring vision – for your company, you need
OKRs that take you there. OKRs symbolize ambition. A KPI, on the other
hand, measures the success, the output, quantity or quality of an ongoing
process or activity. They measure processes or activities already in place.
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16. FAQ
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What’s the difference between an Objective and a Goal?
The main difference between an Objective and goal is that goal often
contain metrics, Objectives never do. For example, “Grow revenue by 15%
in 1 year” is a goal.
In OKR this would be split into an Objective which answers “why” and a Key
Result “Grow revenue by 15% in 1 year” which always contains a metric.
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17. FAQ
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How do I create OKRs for something that’s not measurable?
Almost anything can be measured. If you’re struggling to find Key Results
for an Objective, ask yourself “How will I know when my Objective has
been achieved?”.
Make sure to choose Key Results that are outcome based, look for metrics
you don’t directly own or control, but that you can influence.
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18. What do I do if my strategy changes during my OKR cycle?
Don’t worry! This is a common challenge faced by small teams especially.
In these cases we recommend changing your OKRs. The main goal of OKRs
is to create a link between the overall strategic business goals and the day-
to-day tactical actions that allow these goals to become a reality.
FAQ
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19. FAQ
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Who should be in charge of my OKR program?
It is recommend that someone on the senior leadership or a Champion
team drives the uptake of OKR in an organization. Once an OKR program
has been rolled out, this can be handed off to an Ambassador, who then
becomes responsible for program management and acts as a single point of
contact for all matters related to OKR.
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20. Yoshiaki Ieda All Rights Reserved.
Reference
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Measure What Matters by John Doerr
https://www.whatmatters.com/
https://www.ted.com/talks/john_doerr_why_the_secret_to_success_is_sett
ing_the_right_goals?language=en
Radical Focus: Achieving Your Most Important Goals with Objectives and
Key Results by Christina Wodtke
https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Focus-Achieving-Important-Objectives-
ebook/dp/B01BFKJA0Y
How Google Works by Eric Schmidt & Jonathan Rosenberg
https://www.amazon.com/How-Google-Works-Eric-Schmidt-
ebook/dp/B00NF0TMGK