There was a time when I thought I’d be a painter. I went to art school, spent hours […]
From Jobs to Careers to a Calling
Manage your Life Like You Manage a Product: Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exit—and Reflect
“Life doesn’t follow a straight path” is a cliché, but as my mama always says, “They’re called truisms […]
Decoupling OKRs: It’s Time to Let Go
OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are supposed to make everything faster, clearer, and more focused. And when you’re […]
Getting Started with Outcome Thinking
One of the biggest challenges people face when adopting OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) is shifting from output […]
Why We Struggle to Get Things Done: Common Pitfalls
We all have things we want to achieve—whether it’s personal goals like getting fit or professional milestones like […]
The Easiest Way to Start Working with OKRs
If you’ve ever found yourself knee-deep in a project and wondering, “What the hell are we really trying […]
What You Want isn’t Always What You Want
I was sitting on a patio with two of my dearest friends, polishing off a second bottle of […]
Fast Ways to Estimate Capacity
Estimating the capacity of your organization or team quickly is crucial for setting realistic goals and effectively planning […]
Understanding Organizational Capacity: Why It Matters in OKR Practice
Setting goals is crucial for any organization, and one effective method for doing this is through OKRs (Objectives […]
Why We Struggle to Prioritize
Why We Struggle to Prioritize: Insights from My Work Prioritization is one of the most challenging tasks we […]
Setting Personal OKRs
Life happens. It’s easy to get swept away by our myriad responsibilities and lose sight of our personal […]
Pre-Work for Setting OKRs
Pre-Work for Setting OKRs: Building a Foundation for Success Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) offer a proven framework […]
Harnessing Confidence Ratings for Effective OKRs
OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are like a compass for organizations, helping teams align around clear objectives and […]
Using Temporal Landmarks for Effective OKRs Adoption
Anyone familiar with Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) knows that the heartbeat of this framework is its cadence—how […]
Cialdini’s Influence: The Secret to Achieving OKRs
Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) are a powerful framework for achieving strategic goals. In practice, it can be […]
The effect of goal setting on group performance: A meta-analysis
Introduction to Something New! This blog is 24 years old, and I’ve done many things with it. I’ve […]
Crafting Personal OKRs for Real Change
In the quest for personal growth and improvement, setting Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) can be a transformative […]
Closing Open Loops for Better Personal OKRs
In the whirlwind of our daily lives, it’s easy to feel swamped by endless tasks and commitments. Between […]
Podcasts of Late
Hello folks, I keep forgetting to mention podcasts I’ve been on lately! check it out: First, a conversation […]
Good OKRs, Bad OKRs
I spoke at Dan Olsen’s Lean Product Meetup last night. Talk Slides
Are You Sure You Want to Use OKRs?
There is a concept I call drift. Drift means that a process has drifted away from the original […]
The Goal Fits the Team
Beyond the Usual OKR approach Since I first started writing about OKRs seven years ago, I have had […]
Cascading OKRs at Scale
How do you avoid the slow waterfall of goals? A draft of a chapter for Radical Focus 2.0. I […]
The Art of the OKR, Redux
The original “Art of the OKR” was written in 2014. I returned to it as I began […]
Using OKRs to Increase Organizational Learning
This is a draft chapter from the second edition of Radical Focus. It’s coming… eventually. Hopefully soonish. Leave […]
Working the Weekly 1:1
A better approach for the most important meeting of the week There are a lot of work “rituals” that […]
Personal OKRs, Three Years Later
Don’t know anything about OKRs? Read The Art of the OKR first, and/or Personal OKRs. Also, personal OKRs are […]
GUEST POST: A Map from Goals, Around Assumptions, Through Tasks, Towards Results
As I prepare for the fall semester, John has kindly agreed to a guest post, sharing some of […]
One Objective to Rule them All
@cwodtke Would you recommend that a company has only one top level objective? — Lukas Dryja (@nizm) August […]
Why Key Results Need to Be Results
If you know nothing about OKRs, please start here: Art of the OKR. Or buy my book, Radical Focus. […]