Hey - thanks for this; very thoughtful and timely indeed. I am wondering though whether you are confusing the type of goal (ie. Scale X) for the framework (or process) used to define and track the goal (ie. OKRs)? I see defining the type of goal and the success metrics as a key prerequisite step to defining and tracking the goal itself. And I absolutely agree that people tend to get lost in the process rather than focus on the outcome. That is an age-old story and it applies to all types of frameworks or processes, not just OKRs; agile is another example that comes to mind - most people try very hard to do agile by the book and they forget why they’re doing in the first place (or never actually know 😀) So defining the type of goal one thing ( tied to strategy) and using a framework to formalize and track another thing. No?
Thanks for your comment! Definitely agree with this - "I see defining the type of goal and the success metrics as a key prerequisite step to defining and tracking the goal itself. And I absolutely agree that people tend to get lost in the process rather than focus on the outcome."
Also agree that defining the goal type and formalising a tracking approach are different. From my experience most teams tend to skip over that initial point which was the premise of the article. Often using a framework can mask poor quality goals so this approach was an attempt to encourage people to tackle goal setting using a first principles approach rather than being tied to a particular method of doing things.
Hey - thanks for this; very thoughtful and timely indeed. I am wondering though whether you are confusing the type of goal (ie. Scale X) for the framework (or process) used to define and track the goal (ie. OKRs)? I see defining the type of goal and the success metrics as a key prerequisite step to defining and tracking the goal itself. And I absolutely agree that people tend to get lost in the process rather than focus on the outcome. That is an age-old story and it applies to all types of frameworks or processes, not just OKRs; agile is another example that comes to mind - most people try very hard to do agile by the book and they forget why they’re doing in the first place (or never actually know 😀) So defining the type of goal one thing ( tied to strategy) and using a framework to formalize and track another thing. No?
Hi Andrei,
Thanks for your comment! Definitely agree with this - "I see defining the type of goal and the success metrics as a key prerequisite step to defining and tracking the goal itself. And I absolutely agree that people tend to get lost in the process rather than focus on the outcome."
Also agree that defining the goal type and formalising a tracking approach are different. From my experience most teams tend to skip over that initial point which was the premise of the article. Often using a framework can mask poor quality goals so this approach was an attempt to encourage people to tackle goal setting using a first principles approach rather than being tied to a particular method of doing things.