OKR Is Not A Performance Tool

OKR (Objectives and Key Results) is a new‑generation management framework. It traces back to Peter Drucker’s Management by Objectives. In the 1979–1980 battle between Intel’s 8080 and Motorola’s 6800, Intel’s CEO Andy Grove led the company to use OKR and beat Motorola — moving OKR from theory into practice.

I recently read two books on OKR and built a rough understanding.

Christina Wodtke’s book tells a fictional story of a startup adopting OKRs from scratch. It reads easily as an introduction, but the practical takeaways are limited — I don’t recommend it.

John Doerr, chairman at KPCB, worked at Intel starting in 1975 and witnessed OKR’s power first‑hand. Later, as a VC, he spread OKRs to portfolio companies — Google, MyFitnessPal, Remind, Nuna, among others — as well as nonprofits like the Gates Foundation and ONE. The successes convinced him that OKR is broadly applicable and can replace traditional KPI/BSC approaches, so he has championed it widely.

Measure What Matters weaves real cases from Intel and Google to explain OKR’s characteristics and how to practice them. It’s readable, actionable, and even carries a foreword by Google co‑founder Larry Page.

If you plan to roll out OKRs, this is worth reading. Before the book, you can watch John Doerr’s TED talk, and browse more at his OKR hub, whatmatters: https://www.whatmatters.com/

OKR looks simple. Master focus and commitment to priorities; alignment and linkage; tracking accountability; and stretch to the impossible — and you’re done, right? Not quite. Doerr even shares Lumeris’s failed OKR attempt. Several Chinese firms have tried as well, with mixed results.

In my view, the key lies in the latter part of Measure What Matters — “OKRs and Continuous Performance Management”:

• First, OKRs are not for performance appraisal. Don’t use them that way.
• Second, you need an uplifting, strong culture to get the team aligned. Only employees who live the company’s values will behave consistently across situations.
• Third, combine OKRs with CFRs (Conversation, Feedback, Recognition). OKR is the tool for leaders to set top‑level goals and key results; CFR is the practice to ensure those goals and results are communicated and reinforced effectively. Together, they work.
• Finally, you need an OKR coach. Intel had Andy Grove; Google had John Doerr. This may be the hardest part locally.

Published at: Oct 2, 2025 · Modified at: Oct 26, 2025