OKR (Objectives and Key Results) is a goal-setting framework using ambitious objectives and measurable key results.
OKRs (popularized by Google) cascade strategy: Objectives are aspirational; Key Results are measurable. Set quarterly, scored 0-1.0. Best practice: 0.6-0.7 = success (avoid sandbagging). Tools: Lattice, 15Five, Quantive (formerly Gtmhub). By 2026, OKRs are standard at growth-stage SaaS but face pushback for becoming bureaucratic at scale.
OKRs align teams on a small number of measurable outcomes rather than a long list of activities. Done well, they prevent the busy-but-not-effective trap.
A product team sets an objective ("Make onboarding obviously valuable in week one") with three key results (activation rate, time-to-first-value, week-one retention). Every sprint is judged on its contribution to those numbers, not on output volume.
OKRs are not a project list. Objectives describe outcomes you want; key results measure whether you got them; tasks are how you try. Conflating any two is the most common reason OKRs fail.
Limit yourself to one objective per team per quarter with no more than three key results; longer lists dilute focus and signal that you have not actually chosen.
OKR (Objectives and Key Results) falls under the Workplace category.
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