#51 How to write your personal OKRs
Applying Google's framework to life
I keep mentioning OKRs, and a friend pointed out that not everyone works for a company that uses this approach. Therefore, it was not obvious what I meant when I suggested writing them earlier this year.
Today’s email will be very practical. I will explain what OKRs are and how you can use them in your transition journey.
The OKRs principle
OKRs, which stands for Objectives and Key Results, is a goal-setting framework used by Google and many other companies to define and track objectives and their outcomes. Here's a simple way to understand it:
Objectives: The "What"
Objectives are what you want to achieve. They are the big, ambitious goals that give you a clear direction. Think of objectives as the destination on a map. They should be:
Inspirational and Challenging: They push you to stretch your limits.
Clear and Actionable: You know exactly what you're aiming for.
Qualitative: They describe a vision, not numbers.
Key Results: The "How"
Key Results are the measurable steps you'll take to achieve your objective. They are like the milestones along your journey to the destination. Key results should be:
Specific and Measurable: You can track progress with numbers.
Achievable: They should be realistic, yet challenging.
Time-bound: There should be a clear deadline.
Usually, you would have 3–5 objectives per quarter, each with 3-5 key results attached to them.
How to apply the OKRs framework to professional transition
I like this approach because it allows for the institutionalization of a process that doesn’t really have standard frameworks. Having at least some structure gives comfort and a sense of control.
I have prepared examples of typical activities that people undertake when they think of a transition or start working on their personal branding.
Let’s start with a classic one, where we need to sit down and think about your past.
O1: Audit your previous professional experience
KR1: Write down 5 (stretch goal: 10) top achievements using the STAR framework (Situation, Thinking, Actions, Results).
KR2: Extract 5 (stretch goal: 10) key competencies that allowed you to achieve those results.
KR3: Formulate 5 (stretch goal: 10) lifestyle preferences that you need to sustain your chosen path.
KR4: Formulate 5 (stretch goal: 10) of your interests.
The next one is an example of how to itemize the search for inspiration.
O2: Find sources of inspiration and expand horizons
KR1: Meet with 5 (stretch goal: 10) people who work in completely different domains and ask them how they made professional choices to arrive where they are right now.
(i.e., if you work in corporate, meet with a photographer, doctor, baker in your neighborhood, software engineer, construction worker, etc.)
KR2: Talk to 5 teenage children of your friends.
(They see the world so differently!)
KR3: Talk to 5 strangers in a restaurant and ask them about their lives.
(If they are willing to, of course! In some cultures, it is less common, I agree)
KR4: Attend 5 events about the hottest topics in industries you have no knowledge about.
KR5: Meet with 5 (stretch goal: 10) people who used to work in your field and started doing something different.
(i.e., people who used to work for your company or people who used to have a similar job title in the past)
And the third example is about working on your publicity:
O3: Build a reputation as a recognized expert
KR1: Contact 5 organizers of industry events and pitch them an idea for a panel/round table.
KR2: Brainstorm a list of 10 (stretch goal: 15) topics that you could write about on LinkedIn.
KR3: Publish 1 LinkedIn post per week for three months.
KR4: Identify 3 (stretch goal: 5) journalists that cover your industry and offer them your availability for comments when they write a new article.
I hope these examples allow you to understand that, in fact, almost anything can be itemized in a measurable way.
One might argue that measuring output is not as useful as measuring results. I would agree in a business scenario, but a transition is not a binary state, and it requires a lot of learning in the process.
So whatever you can put a number on, do it.
Until next time!
nat
📚 To read
How VC John Doerr Sets (and Achieves) Goals - Doerr is the person who popularized the concept of OKRs, and in this article he shares his personal approach.
”I have had a set of personal objectives and key results. Most of mine have been around family. Now both daughters are off to school, but years ago I read and believed that having family dinners together was a key to having a happy family.
So my key result was to get home for dinner by 6PM at least 20 nights a month, and be present, with our phones in another room. And that’s pretty hard to do. I was living in the 70% threshold is a good result — that would mean 14 or 15 nights a month. That’s an example of how OKRs can span any range of human activity.”