OKR

Definitions

1. OKR, or Objectives and Key Results, is a goal-setting framework used by organizations to define measurable goals and track their outcomes. Originally developed at Intel by Andy Grove and later popularized by Google (introduced by John Doerr), OKRs consist of an Objective (a qualitative, inspiring goal describing what you want to achieve) and two to five Key Results (quantitative, measurable outcomes that indicate whether the objective has been reached). For example, the objective might be to become the most trusted API documentation platform, with key results like achieve 95% user satisfaction score and reduce average time-to-first-API-call to under 5 minutes. OKRs are typically set quarterly at company, team, and individual levels, with alignment between them. A key principle is that OKRs should be ambitious (stretch goals where achieving 70% is considered success) rather than conservative commitments. Companies including Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Spotify use OKRs. Critics note that poorly implemented OKRs can become bureaucratic overhead or create perverse incentives around easily measurable but unimportant metrics.

   In plain English: A system for setting and tracking goals — you pick what you want to achieve (objectives) and define measurable ways to know if you got there (key results).

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