OK, thought this would be 5 reasons, but we ended up adding 2 more in the end!

Find out what those other two are by listening to this episode.

Here are the "TOP 5"...

The most common failure mode is incredibly human.

Teams turn key results into a checklist:

• Launch feature

• Hire two engineers

• Run campaign

• Build dashboard

Great work "to do" but none reflect outcomes/KRs.

This is one of the biggest killers of OKR programs.

A leadership team runs OKRs successfully, then decides: “Let’s deploy OKRs everywhere....Now!”

Arguably the most common reason why OKRs projects fail.

Teams get excited after publishing OKRs (like New year's resolutions) and then just go back to work. Near the middle or end of the OKR cycle, people are like "Oh, yeah we should look at our OKRs..."

Even teams that care about OKRs often lack a structured rhythm.

Check-ins are:

• Inconsistent

• Unstructured

• Status-heavy

• Or skipped entirely

Without a set cadence, your OKRs program is close to worthless.

Ambitious teams often believe more goals mean more drive.

In reality, more goals dilute execution.

Common pattern:

• Too many objectives

• Too many key results

• Everything is a priority!

When everything matters, nothing moves. The highest-performing teams consistently do fewer things, but do them well.

For more, check us out at www.okrs.com

Thanks for listening!

Ben introduces the 9 roles you'll need to launch and sustain your OKRs program. OK, so you might not need an EXTERNAL OKRs COACH, but Ben is going to push for that and not just because that's his job! It's super-valuable to get an outside perspective from someone with deep experience both 1) launching OKRs, 2) improving OKRs, and even 3) training internal OKR coaches so you can sustain your OKRs program without external support.

Here are the 9 roles along with when you'll need to identify a person to fill each:

In addition to "external coach" as optional, some of the other roles may not be required.

For example, if you're launching top-level OKRs only, you don't need "TEAM LEAD"). If you don't have a performance management or review system in place yet, then you also don't need an "HR Lead")

For more on OKRs, check out our site: www.okrs.com

Best of luck filling those roles!

Thanks for listening!

Ben covers the 5 things you must keep in mind to succeed with OKRs. And he even gets into the 6th mantra which was added recently, after his OKRs book came out in 2022.

You'll learn how to leverage these 5 mantras to make your OKR program a success:

1.Less is more. Define a small set of OKRs.

2.Crawl-walk-run. Deploy OKRs piecemeal. Scale it then nail it. (2 cycles)

3.Outcomes, not output. Write key results that mostly reflect outcomes (results) rather than output (amount of work delivered).

4.OKRs are not everything. Write OKRs that reflect the most important areas to make measurable progress. Distinguish OKRs from tasks and health metrics.

5.The only way to learn OKRs is to do OKRs. Allocate most of an OKRs project to drafting, refining and reflecting on OKRs rather than discussing theory.

6.Embed Alignment. Listen in to learn more about Ben's latest mantra!

For more info check out www.okrs.com

Thanks for listening and see you next time!

At the end of your OKR cycle, it's time to "reflect and reset." Many skip this step. Others do a retrospective that just looks back. You'll want to document your learnings and use them to inform your OKRs for the upcoming next cycle. When you apply learnings to make your next set of OKRs better, you are building your GOAL SETTING MUSCLE. This is Ben's favorite part of the coaching program since this is where he holds your KR Champions accountable.

Here is the sample KR that Ben walks you through in this episode along with the 3 columns you'll need to include in your OKR Tracker (1-Final Score, 2-Learning, and 3-Keep/Modify/Remove):

Here is a Sample Email you can use to announce Step 3 of the OKRs Cycle --- Reflect and Reset:

When to Send: Two to three weeks prior to the end of an OKRs cycle

Email Subject: Preparing for our upcoming OKRs reflect and reset sessions

From: OKRs Project Lead

To: In this case, it was sent to 12 team leads setting OKRs. However, an email like this may also be sent to an entire group of attendees from the initial OKRs workshop or the entire list of key result champions who will reflect and reset on their key result during the session.

[Email Body:]

All,

As you recall, our OKRs coach helped us get through Step 1: set and align OKRs and Step 2: check-in and monitor. As we prepare for the end of our first OKRs cycle, it is time to for Step 3: reflect and reset. In this last step of the cycle, we document learnings and draft OKRs for the upcoming quarter.

Timeline for creating OKRs as we enter our next cycle in Q4:

• By Oct 1: Reflect and reset with [COACH NAME]
• By Oct 8: Review draft OKRs with CEO to confirm direction
• By Oct 15: Refine OKRs with [COACH NAME]
• By Oct 22: Publish to the OKRs tracker

Instructions: At the end of each cycle, we take an hour to reflect on the prior period’s OKRs and apply what we learned. The outcome of a reflect and reset session is that each key result: (1) gets final scoring, (2) has a documented learning, and (3) is classified into one of three buckets:

1. Keep: The key result’s final score is not where we want it to be. We need to KEEP focused on moving this metric forward.
2. Modify: The key result needs to be adjusted based on learning. For example, we may have set a key result: “$5 million in new customer revenue” and achieved $10 million with a single customer only to learn that we need a more diverse set of customers. In this case, we might MODIFY to “five customers with $1 million+ revenue each.”
3. Remove: The key result is no longer worth pursuing or is best monitored as a health metric.

All key result champions attend reflect and reset sessions. Other interested team members are encouraged to join as well.

Thanks,

[OKRS PROJECT LEAD NAME]

The 3 Tips for Success with Reflect & Reset are:

1. Purpose: (1) Agree on final scores for key results, (2) capture learnings from the OKRs cycle, and (3) apply these learnings to the next cycle.
2. Duration: Thirty to sixty minutes, depending on the number of key results. Limit the time per key result to ten minutes. If more time is required, agree who will meet after the group discussion to resolve.
3. Attendees: Key result champions must attend this session; ideally, the entire team attends. Consider conducting a reflect and reset coaching session with two teams to optimize learning.

To request your free 1:1 OKRs Consult, contact Ben@OKRs.com

Thanks for listening and best of luck closing out your OKR cycle!

After you publish OKRs and complete step 1 of the OKR cycle, you're excited and ready to go! But then, reality hits and it's time for step 2 - check in and make progress on OKRs.

Here's where the rubber meets the road: The #1 reason OKR projects fail is called "set-it-and-forget-it" and it could happen to you. This episode is about EXECUTION and how you can avoid the set-it-and-forget-it pitfall so that you make progress on your most important goals at work.

Here's the 2x2 template we use at OKRs.com with our clients to standardize the check-in process:

Please post a comment about your OKR check-in process! Is it working well? If not, contact Ben@OKRs.com for your free 1:1 OKR Consult...

Bonus: Video overview of OKRs Cycle Step 2 - Check In

Thanks for listening!

This episode is long, but VITAL!

It kicks off your OKRs journey with the most critical step: setting and aligning effective OKRs.

Many teams try OKRs to gain focus, but fall into common traps like:

• Defining too many objectives
• Writing key results as task lists
• Working in silos without clear alignment.

This leads to "busy teams but no progress"

You’ll learn how to avoid these pitfalls by focusing on 1-3 objectives, distinguishing outcomes from activities, and clearly defining why each objective matters now.

Ben also walks you through the importance of mission and alignment to ensure your OKRs connect vertically to strategy and horizontally across teams.

Using real client examples, you’ll see how strong objectives, measurable key results, and cross-functional collaboration come together to create clarity, focus, and impact. If your organization has struggled with OKRs before, you’re not alone, this episode shows you how to get them right from the start.

Sample OKR from today's episode for a marketing team:

Marketing Team Mission: Provide tools to enable our sales team to sell and beat the competition Alignment Check: We depend on sales, product, and customer success. Sales and finance depend on us. Objective: Increase the quality of leads, cost effectively Why Now? We are not measuring the return on investment (ROI) of major marketing spend at events, and our new CEO wants visibility now to create an ROI-based marketing plan next year. Cost per lead at $105 is not viable as we scale and is a key driver in the financial plan. The sales team reports that the quality of leads we deliver is poor.

Key Results:

• Obtain baseline ROI of marketing as measured by reporting revenue/cost for 5 conferences where we spent $50,000 or more
• Reduce overall cost per lead from $105 in Q4 to $75 in Q1
• Double the quality of leads as measured by an increase in leads that convert to opportunity within six weeks of creation from 20% to 40%

Team-Level Mission Exercise:

Characterists of Effective Key Results:

1. “Key” not “all” – Is the key result just “business as usual” or is it a “key” result
2. Specific – Using specific language improves communication and avoids ambiguity
3. Measurable – Progress should not be subject to opinion
4. Results not tasks – Key results are results/outcomes, not tasks
5. Clear – Use High School English with only standard acronyms
6. Aspirational – You achieve more when you set the bar high
7. Scored – Use 0-1 scores to clearly communicate targets, manage expectations
8. Owned – All KRs have an owner who agrees to update progress and ensure the KR does not slip through the cracks

Further Reading: Team-Level OKRs in 7 Steps

For your free 1:1 OKR consult, contact Ben@OKRs.com

Video Training of OKRs Cycle Step 1

Video Training featuring 3 Steps of OKRs Cycle

Thanks for listening and see you next time!

Ben's favorite workshop - this is the one his clients ALWAYS LOVE!

The OKRs Expert Workshop is designed to help organizations build the internal capability to sustain and scale their OKRs program long after the external coach is gone.

First developed in 2014 with Zalando, this workshop pioneered a structured approach to developing internal OKRs coaches—leaders who can guide teams, strengthen alignment, and keep the OKRs process alive quarter after quarter.

Unlike introductory OKRs sessions that focus on writing OKRs, the Expert Workshop focuses on coaching skills. Through highly interactive breakout groups, participants rotate through three roles—coach, coachee, and observer—learning how to ask powerful questions, clarify outcomes, and support teams in drafting effective OKRs. The emphasis is simple: the only way to learn OKRs is to do OKRs.

Ideal for organizations running team-level OKRs, this 6–8 hour onsite workshop works best with 12–18 cross-functional participants and is built around hands-on application, shared learning, and real coaching practice.

This workshop is also for smaller groups of 6-12 trainees via remote delivery over two mini-workshops of ~2 hours each.

Key Takeaways • Build internal OKRs coaches • Practice structured coaching in small groups • Strengthen long-term OKRs sustainability and scale

Sample Agenda for an Onsite OKRs Expert Workshop (Idea for large group of 12-18, max 24 trainees)

• 9:00–9:30 am: Welcome and introductions
• 9:30–10:00 am: OKRs theory
• 10:00–10:45 am: Group exercise: Draft key results for a top-level OKR
• 10:45–11:00 am: Break
• 11:00–11:30 am: Creating team-level OKRs in 7 steps
• 11:30–12:30 pm: Breakout round 1: A coaches B, C observes
• 12:30–1:30 pm: Lunch
• 1:30–2:00 pm: Share backs
• 2:00–2:30 pm: Rapid breakout round 2: B coaches C, A observes
• 2:30–3:00 pm: Share backs
• 3:00–3:30 pm: Wrap-up: feedback, next steps, and key takeaways

Contact Ben@OKRs.com to learn more or for a free 1:1 OKR consult.

Thanks for listening!

OKRs are failing everywhere I look, not just according to Reddit! That's because "IDEAS are EASY, EXECUTION" as Doerr declares is spot on.

And once your OKRs are in place and everyone is excited, things fall apart for many of you. Your execution is weak, for 3 reasons:

• PROBLEM 1: Zero OKRs review = “Set-it-and-forget-it” OR introducing ad-hoc “OKRs-specific” meetings & processes. SOLUTION: Integrate OKRs into existing team meetings & processes*
• PROBLEM 2: Inconsistent scoring (historical, predictive, color-coding). SOLUTION: Apply standard scoring system during the cycle; use 4-column check-in update template (progress, predicted score, blockers/risks, action items)
• PROBLEM 3: Not clear about who’s accountable for updating key results. SOLUTION: Each KR has a champion (can be 2 champions, max 3) who updates progress

But there's more to this. You'll learn how the KR Champion workshop stacks the deck in your favor that you'll make real progress on your KRs! In other words, you'll execute, you'll get what John Doerr calls "EVERYTHING"

And as a bonus, Ben gets into how coaching KR champions right before check-ins during your first cycle can create more accountabilty, focus, and progress so you move the needle on your OKRs.

This episode features new content that was not included in Ben's 2022 OKR book.

To learn more about how to deliver a KR champion workshop in your organization, contact Ben@OKRs.com to get your 1:1 consult.