What Are OKRs (Objectives and Key Results)?
OKRs are a goal-setting framework used by Google, Intel, and thousands of growing businesses. Learn how to use them to align your team and drive focus.
Key Takeaways
- An Objective is qualitative — where do we want to go? Key Results are quantitative — how do we know we got there?
- OKRs are set quarterly and reviewed weekly — they are a rhythm, not a one-off event
- The goal is to hit 70% of stretch key results — 100% means targets were set too conservatively
- OKRs fail when they become a bureaucratic exercise rather than a genuine focus tool
What OKRs are
OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are a goal-setting framework developed at Intel by Andy Grove and popularised by Google in its earliest years. An Objective is a qualitative statement of what you want to achieve — ambitious, inspiring, and directional. Key Results are the specific, measurable outcomes that define what it looks like to have achieved the Objective. Together, they answer: where are we going, and how will we know we got there?
An example
Objective: Make our customer onboarding experience best in class. Key Results: Reduce time-to-first-value from 14 days to 5 days. Increase 30-day activation rate from 42% to 65%. Achieve an onboarding NPS of 55 or above. These KRs are specific, measurable, and directly evidence that the Objective has been achieved. Vague KRs like 'improve onboarding' are not OKRs — they are wishes.
The OKR rhythm
OKRs are typically set quarterly at the company level, then cascaded to teams and individuals. Each week, team members update their KR progress — a simple red/amber/green or a percentage completion — in a brief check-in meeting. At the end of the quarter, OKRs are graded and reflected upon before the next quarter's OKRs are set. The weekly cadence is what gives OKRs their power — it creates a rhythm of accountability and early problem identification.
The 70% rule
A hallmark of the OKR framework is that Key Results should be set as stretches — ambitious enough that hitting 70% of a KR is considered a success. If you consistently hit 100% of your KRs, your targets are too conservative. If you consistently hit below 50%, they are unrealistic. The sweet spot is 60-80% completion — meaning the team pushed hard, achieved most of it, and learned something from the gap.
Why OKRs fail
OKRs fail in predictable ways. Setting too many — more than 3-5 company OKRs per quarter creates noise. Making KRs output-based rather than outcome-based — tracking activities (launched 3 campaigns) rather than results (revenue from new customers grew 30%). Using OKRs as a performance review tool rather than a focus tool — which incentivises sandbagging rather than ambitious goal-setting. And failing to cascade OKRs so that team goals connect to company goals.