You can find all my book summaries — here. Notes and discussion topics from our book club about Measure What Matters. The OKR origin storyis credited to Andy Grove and Operation Crush. In other words, a healthy OKR environment strikes a balance between alignment and autonomy, common purpose and creative latitude. By definition, they are challenging to achieve. Colleagues can see when someone needs help and offer support. It is the direction. It’s not scalable. Research suggests that making measured headway can be more incentivising than public recognition, monetary inducements, or even achieving the goal itself. Objectives p o int us in the direction we want to go. As LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner likes to say, “When you are tired of saying it, people are starting to hear it.”. Many businesses fail to execute on their best opportunities. The author suggests that quarterly OKRs are best suited to keep pace with today’s fast-changing markets. Continuous performance management is implemented with CFR: Conversations, Feedback, Recognition. it was written by John Doer an American businessman and investor. Individuals cannot be reduced to numbers. If you ask your team, will they be able to identify the top priorities of the company? Helpful. You either meet a KR or not — there is no grey area, no room for doubt. An OKR culture is an accountable culture. Institute peer to peer recognition — all-hands round-up, unedited shout-outs from anyone, Establish clear criteria — clear actions and special projects, Share recognition stories — newsletters, blogs, emails, Make recognition frequent and attainable — hail smaller accomplishments, Tie recognition to company goals and strategies. An effective OKR system links goals to a team’s broader mission, alignment, and clarity to the entire organisation. “At any given time, some significant percentage of people are working on the wrong things. 92 percent of the US working adults said they’d be more motivated to reach their goals if colleagues could see their progress. You kick of virtuous cycles that reinforce your ability to actually get your work done. Measure What Matters is born from John Doerr’s time at Intel with Andy Grove. In the book Measure What Matters, John Doerr explores the system of OKRs using testimonials from Sundar Pichai, Susan Wojcicki, Bill Gates, Bono, and many others. Transparency creates very clear signals for everyone. Conversations: an authentic, richly textured exchange between manager and contributor, aimed at driving performance. Committed Objectives: they are tied to Google’s metrics, such as product releases, bookings, hiring, customers. Here's a sample of what you'll hear in this audiobook: Summary of Measure What MattersObjectives and key results, or OKRs, refer to a process that assists in moving organizations ahead. Guidelines lists 31 rules (or guidelines) that you should follow to improve your productivity, become a better leader, do better in business, improve your health, succeed in life and become a happier person. He is the author of Measure What Matters, a book about OKRs that led Google & Intel to massive success. The biggest risk of all is not taking one. For smaller, fast-growing startups, OKRs help founders keep firing themselves from jobs they did in the beginning. Through OKRs, companies can align their teams towards common goals, propelling the company to success. For an OKR system to work the entire organisation needs to adopt it. Should we double down on the two or three things that really worked for us last quarter, or is it time to consider a pivot? An Objective is simply WHAT is to be achieved. “Connected goal-setting is critical to enabling employees to do the best work of their lives.” – Brad Smith, Intuit CEO, “In God we trust; all others must bring data.” – W. Edwards Deming. In 1999, legendary venture capitalist John Doerr i. Critiques and corrections are out in public view. At quarter’s end (or worse, year’s end), we’re left with on-paper, zombie OKRs devoid of meaning. Transparency seeds collaboration. They want to discuss their goals on a regular basis, share them with others, and track progress from peers. He serves … Micromanagement is mismanagement. Every process requires trial and error. You do it because every OKR is transparently important to the company and to the colleagues who count on you. LEARN HOW TO SET UP A BASIC SYSTEM FOR STAYING ORGANISED! Customer service, innovation, teamwork, cost cutting – any organisational priority can be supported by a timely shout-out. Be patient; be resolute. DOWNLOAD THE MEASURE WHAT MATTERS PDF FOR FREE! I had tried to read this book, … In an OKR system, the most junior staff can look at everyone’s goals, on up to the CEO. OKRs offer visibility and enable pushing back while staying fruitful. Was it the right goal in the first place? KEY … Share recognition stories. Measure What Matters: Rock the World with OKRs (Book Summary) June 3, 2018 jdonovan. In his 2018 book, Measure What Matters, John Doerr—an early investor in Google—details how OKRs have helped some of the most innovative people … Each tells a story about how measuring improvement with OKRs transformed their business and culture. At the back of the book is a very useful set of resources, including the Google Playbook for OKRs as well as a summary of the book’s content – don’t overlook this section. For 2019, his net worth increased up to $7.7 billion, being the 215th in the Billionaires 2019 list. Most of all, they are measurable and verifiable. Ongoing progress updates. Measure what matters summary. . After all, “Ideas are easy. As soft as it seems, saying ‘thank you’ is an extraordinary tool to building an engaged team. The challenge is knowing which ones.”. Objectives & Key Results (OKRs) An objective is WHAT is to be achieved – significant, concrete, action-oriented, and (ideally) inspirational. Agile and daring, to crack a new market – or more conservative and operational, to firm up our existing position? The brief and data-driven check-ins on the employee’s real-time progress, with problem solving as needed. Feel free to end an obsolete Key Result or Objective midstream. For 2019, his net worth increased up to $7.7 billion, being the 215th in the Billionaires 2019 list. Measure What Matters [Summary] 2019/01/06. Effective KRs are specific and time-bound, aggressive yet realistic. In other words, they keep them away from micromanaging. Read aspirational stories of how others set their OKRs. When employee achievements are consistently recognized by peers, a culture of gratitude is born. OKRs ensure that a company focuses its efforts on the same important issues throughout the organisation. Eric Schmidt credits OKRs with “changing the course of the company forever.”, “It is our choices . Access a free review of Measure What Matters, by John Doerr and 20,000 other business, leadership and nonfiction books on getAbstract. Audible Audiobook) details (United Kingdom). For them to make a real impact, however, they had to try and fail fast, track their progress, and measure what mattered. 5 min read. Then grab a SpeedyReads summary of Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs by John Doerr now! leaders of an organization to figure out the right goals and approach for their teams Hail smaller accomplishments, too: that extra effort to meet a deadline, that special polish on a proposal, the little things a manager might take for granted. Only Doerr could deliver this breadth of content, and he does it brilliantly. Key Results benchmark and monitor HOW we get to the Objective. When people see how their goals are connected with their colleagues’ goals, they can contribute more meaningfully to the company’s success and see the overall consequences of their actions. (see also: Audible Audiobook) details . He is the author of Measure What Matters, a book about OKRs that led Google & Intel to massive success. CFRs help ensure that those priorities and insights get transmitted. In pursuing high-effort, high-risk goals, employee commitment is essential. Measure What Matters (2018) chronicles John Doerr’s lifelong journey of helping organizations implement objectives and key results – otherwise known as OKRs. Measure What Matters is about using Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), a revolutionary approach to goal-setting, to make tough choices in business. Compensation conversations are backwards-looking assessment typically held at year’s end. that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” – J.K. Rowling, Measuring what matters begins with the question: What is most important for the next three (or six, or twelve) months? Read more. Culture is “a set of values and beliefs, as well as familiarity with the way things are done and should be done in a company.”. In Adobe, individuals want to know how they’re doing while they’re doing it, and also what they need to do differently. OKRs motivate us to excel by doing more than we’d thought possible. Without them, the executive has no way of knowing what matters and what’s noise. While certain operational Objectives must be met in full, aspirational OKRs should be uncomfortable and possibly unattainable. Institute peer-to-peer recognition. This book will help any organisation or team aim high, move fast, and excel. To avoid compulsive, soul-killing over alignment, healthy organisations encourage some goals to emerge from the bottom up. Margaret L. 5.0 out of 5 stars Simple And Concise Summary. Objectives are the stuff of inspiration and far horizons. John Doerr is an American investor and venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins. Maintaining the creative edge, while mobilizing and aligning a team to accomplish visionary and strategic goals is essential for every organization in today’s fast changing environment. These committed objectives (sales & revenue goals) are to be achieved in full (100 percent) within a set time frame. Should not be a catchall wish list nor a sum of a team’s mundane tasks. “If you don’t know where you’re going, you might not get there.”, “It’s not a key result unless it has a number” — Marissa Mayer. How do you need to grow to achieve your career goals? Only a transparent, collaborative, aligned, and connected organisation can achieve so far beyond the norm. Andy Grove is a famous executive known for leading Intel and pioneering management techniques. Two-way coaching. Key results cascade down an organisation — but don’t need to cascade in a straight line, can also skip some direct reports. But if all OKRs are public in a general-purpose software (say, Google Docs), who would have the patience to search out connections or alignment? CFRs are ongoing, forward-looking dialogue between leaders and contributors — it centres around: The goal of the meeting is for mutual teaching and exchange of information. The revolutionary movement behind the explosive growth of Intel, Google, Amazon and Uber. Download Google’s OKR Playbook to learn from the organisation that used OKRs to 10x their growth. No one individual – or company – can “do it all.”. Failures – at an average rate of 40 percent – are part of this territory. OKRs should answer one question in particular: What matters most? Fortunately, more and more organisations are adopting robust, dedicated, cloud-based OKR management software, where users can navigate a digital dashboard to create, track, edit, and score their OKRs, as well as see their connections with others’ OKRs. Modern recognition is performance-based and horizontal. If a conversation is limited to whether you achieved the goal or not, you lose context. They originate from any tier and aim to mobilise the entire organisation. The summary of Measure What Matters is a great read for anyone, whether they participate in the area of business, education, or any other field. Likewise, without frequent status updates, goals become irrelevant. Leaders must convey two things: the importance of the outcome, and the belief that it’s attainable. In god we trust, all others must bring data. Was it the right goal in the first place? Measure What Matters tells the lifelong journey of venture capitalist and American investor, John Doerr, as he transformed organizations through his method of key objectives known as OKRs. Guidelines is my eBook that summarises the main lessons from 33 of the best-selling self-help books in one place. Make recognition frequent and attainable. Public goals are more likely to be attained than goals held in private. OKRs is short for Objectives and Key Results. It can be clouded by the effect of style and context, but importantly ‘Measure What Matters’ is a very human view of organisational performance. Measure What Matters Book Summary. OKRs have helped Google accomplish 10-times growth several times and made it possible for Google to arrange information all over the globe. If an Objective no longer seems practical or relevant as written, Key Results can be modified or even discarded mid-cycle. Goals cannot be attained without a medium: an organisation’s culture. You can find all my book summaries — here. An organisation may need up to four or five quarterly cycles to fully embrace the system, and even more than that to build mature goal muscle. Healthy organizations encourage some goals to emerge from the bottom up (bottom-up OKRs foster engagement and innovation), while other goals get defined by the company’s leaders (top-down alignment brings meaning to work, authority, and long-term vision). A limit of three to five OKRs per cycle leads companies, teams, and individuals to choose what matters most. They’re a set of stringently curated goals that merit special attention and will move people forward in the here and now. OKRs are all about focusing on the core things in your business and being realistic about what you need to achieve. 1 paragraph summary: Must read for anyone setting goals. Here are some ways to implement it: To sum up, OKRs are clear vessels for leaders’ priorities and insights. They want to provide feedback to their managers, not wait for a year to receive feedback from their managers. OKRs have 4 superpowers: 1. focus & commit to priorities, 2. align & connect for teamwork, 3. track for accountability, and 4. stretch for amazing. Measure What Matters by John Doerr helped me realize that maybe I don’t know what my goals are, and maybe I’m not ready for an intense OKR process just yet. Just make sure you notify everyone depending on it and reflect on what you’ve learned. You need continuous performance management to surface the critical questions: Was the goal harder to achieve than you’d thought when you set it? In his new book, Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World With OKRs, John explains how OKRs work and shows how you can apply them in all sorts of situations. to push organisations to new heights. Measure What Matters shows how any organization or team can aim high, move fast, and excel.” —Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO and founder of LeanIn.org and OptionB.org “In this indispensable book, the most important venture capitalist of our era reveals a key to business innovation and success. John Doerr is an engineer, acclaimed venture capitalist, and the chairman of Kleiner Perkins. And the management tax is zero — it’s amazing. A healthy OKR environment strikes a balance between alignment and autonomy, common purpose and creative latitude. In larger organisations, it’s common to find several people unwittingly working on the same thing. “Stressing output is the key to increasing productivity, while looking to increase activity can result in just the opposite.”. Key Results are more earthbound and metric-driven. . Don’t allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good. What is an OKR? Focus and commitment are a must for targeting goals that make a real difference. Measure What Matters explores a management system based on Objectives and Key Results (or OKRs for short). Home » Blog » Book Summaries » Measure What Matters by John Doerr [Book Summary & PDF]. He serves on the board of the Obama Foundation and ONE.org. Such platforms make everyone’s goals more visible, drive engagement, promote internal networking, and save time, money, and frustration. You need continuous performance management to explore critical questions: Continuous performance management is implemented with an instrument called CFR, which give OKRs their human voice: Five critical areas emerge from conversation between managers and contributors: Today’s workers want to be ‘empowered’ and ‘inspired,’ not told what to do. Goal setting and reflection. It’s not a key result unless it has a number. Aspirational Objectives: they reflect bigger-picture, higher-risk, more future-tilting ideas. Finally, to inspire true commitment, leaders must practice what they teach; they must model the behaviour they expect of others by committing to OKRs publicly and visibly. Must read for anyone setting goals. You don’t push toward a goal just because the boss gave you an order. This summary is not intended as a replacement for the original book and all quotes are credited to the above mentioned author and publisher. 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