What do I call this thing?

Since I started blogging and speaking about OKRs and how to use them, it’s been clear that OKRs are not enough.  It’s important to set them correctly, sure, but also to keep them alive via commitment meetings & celebrations and even good status emails. In other words, it’s not one technique, it’s a methodology.

While I’m admittedly suspicious of methodologies, I think this one is really good. I’ve even adopted it to run my personal life.

If I were to sum it up succinctly, I’d say

  • Have a mission for your existence
  • Set an inspirational goal
  • Define metrics so you know if you’ve met that goal
  • Commit to steps toward that goal each Monday
  • Track what keeps your from achieving those tasks
  • Celebrate each Friday what you have accomplished
  • Learn from wins and misses, and keep aiming higher and higher

So… if I have a methodology, shouldn’t it have a name? Because a) OKRs is not only a lame name, but it doesn’t capture the process and b) it’d be helpful to talk about the system succinctly.

I’ve been asking around, and I’ve gotten some suggestions. I like Pulse, Fit (Focused, iterative, triumphant) and Summiting… but wonder what you don’t like about these or if there is something better?  I’d like it to be one word, and sit easily next to Lean and Agile.

 

Please help out in the comments! thank  you thank you!

5 Comments

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  1. 3
    Christina

    Hey Mark, that reminds me of Emerson’s essay (I read every year) called Self Reliance!

    Jonathan, lots of folks have been suggesting i make an OKR ap… you just reminded me how crowded the task management software market is…

    Amy Silvers suggests OKRA https://twitter.com/A_Silvers/status/462651069248851968 and Margot Bloomstein suggested Moonshooting, or the moonshot process

  2. 4
    Deidre Paknad

    Love it, Christina — FIT resonates most with me. OKRs without the weekly cycle of what we call “agreed to achieved” are just another xls file using up dropbox quota. Your commit-celebrate cadence makes perfect sense and it’s a pattern we follow. At Workboard, we meet up over lunch on Mondays and do our Friday celebrations on outside on the dock at the boat club next door.

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