As part of the 2015 Engagement Game, I was asked to discuss how OKRs can connect (or not) with long-term goals.
One of the best arguments for deploying Objectives and Key
Results (OKRs) is the emphasis on a shorter cycle. More frequent review cycles
lead to more rapid learning, more opportunities to make progress and get a
feeling of winning at work, and more places along the road to adjust course,
shifting focus to what’s most important.
However, the emphasis on a short cycle is often cited as a
potential pitfall of OKRs. Are OKRs too short-sighted? How can OKRs be
strategic if they look out only for a quarter? And at Intel, OKRs were set each
month, which pundits might say make OKRs look more tactical rather than
strategic.
Given that Objectives often change from cycle to cycle and Key
Results almost always change, what does stays constant? We see imagery for OKRs
that feature an arrow hitting a target. But moving targets are hard to hit! So,
with OKRs, where is the longer-term description of an organization’s strategy?
The target that stays in place?
Some organizations set annual OKRs in addition to quarterly
OKRs. But often they set annual OKRs at the company-level only. The power of
Key Results depends on the shorter timeframe to get us focused on near term
results. So, some organizations that set annual OKRs actually only set an
annual Objective and leave the Key Results out.
Although, I’ve not seen a standard solution for balancing the
short-term nature of OKRs with the longer-term strategic goals of the
organization, I can provide one equation designed to address this issue:
M + OKR = MOKR
“M” stands for “Mission” and it come first because it
answers the fundamental question: “what is the purpose of our organization”
Having a clear mission, and aligning OKRs - whether monthly,
quarterly, or yearly - to that mission, helps ensure that work performed in the
short term, is meeting the long term strategic mission of the organization. Let’s
look at an example MOKR and see how it enables OKRs to be defined within a
longer-term context.