Another loose end to pick up…
When OKR setting I’m very keen that everyone involved thinks “What is needed?” – more specifically, “What do our stakeholders/customers/users need?” or just “What will add value?”
The aim is to park the “can we do this?” and “how long will it take?” because to answer those questions you need to know what you are doing. And when you answer those questions you start to ask about details, and this all becomes a long conversation, especially when people doubt the information available (i.e. they don’t trust it or don’t want it to be right).
Getting such information also introduces a forward tail where with upfront pre-work. That creates scheduling problems and complicated everything.
Instead you want put customers and outcome first, assume that in the twenty-first century with technology coming out of our ears it is possible to do something which will move towards the objective. What that something is, is itself open to questions but something can be done. Even if it doesn’t solve the problem entirely.
Rather than set an objective by reference to what you can do, set the objective by reference to what is needed.
Remember: to any problem there is always more than one solution. The solution you choose will depend on other parameters like resources and funding. There are always options.
The OKR 2-step
Step 1: set the objective, decide the outcome you need to advance on
Step 2: think/plan/design how you will go about meeting the objective (or at least moving towards it)
Step 1 might be in the morning and step 2 in the afternoon. Or maybe step 1 happens this week, there is a week of feedback and refinement, then step 2. Just separate the discussions, allow your brain to think differently in each.
Of course it is entirely possible that when you come to do step 2 you decide that step 1 and the resulting OKR needs revisiting but that is a worst case scenario.
In truth it is always going to be difficult to completely separate the “what shall we build?” from the “can we build it?” and “what does the solution look like?” questions. If you don’t try you certainly won’t.
I apply this 2-step approach whether setting OKRs which are ambitious (moonshot, 10x thinking) or predictable (guaranteed delivery). When aiming for predictability its gong to be even more difficult to separate the what from the how but again try.
I mean, what could possibly be wrong with putting the customer first?