In his 2018 book "Measure What Matters," John Doerr coined the term "OKR," which stands for Objectives and Key Results. Although Doerr came up with the name, he learned the concept from his mentor, Andy Grove, while working at Intel.

An Objective is a medium-term or long-term goal an organization strives to achieve. Key Results are specific accomplishments that help the organization achieve that goal. While an Objective can be broad, the KRs should be specific and support the Objective. An Objective describes what you want to achieve; Key Results describe how you will achieve that Objective.

Doerr was an early investor in Google, so he introduced this concept to the future tech giant, which adopted it enthusiastically and successfully. Other companies have implemented their version of OKRs, and many have succeeded with this practice.

The author recommends identifying and distinguishing between committed goals and stretch goals. You expect to achieve all your committed goals. If you fail to meet a committed goal, you should be prepared to explain why. You may or may not reach your stretch goals because you might not have all the information upfront to determine if they are achievable. But stretch goals are worth working toward, even if you are only partially successful. Some people refer to Stretch Goals as Aspirational Goals or Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs).

The book alternates Doerr's advice and analysis with passages from those who implemented his methodology. These CEOs and manager describe how they applied OKRs to their businesses and organizations. The case studies help make the concepts tangible.

The book's full title is "Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs." Doerr mentions Google often but includes only one chapter each on Gates and Bono, which does not seem enough to add their names to the title. However, their experience illustrates how one can apply OKRs to organizations outside the typical corporate world.

Key points that resonated with me about Key Results:

• Key Results should be measurable
• They should be achievable but not too easy to achieve.
• They should be clearly communicated and developed in the open
• Be prepared to change OKRs if you find they are not appropriate
• Balance conflicting OKRs
• Avoid tying OKRs to compensation. This encourages employees to avoid setting high goals.

I have always set short- and long-term goals and tasks for myself. With the concept of OKRs, I am working toward a goal and have defined a path to reach that goal. After reading this book, I converted these work items into OKRs. Here is an example:

Objective: Learn conversational Spanish

Key Results:

• Study Duolingo lessons every day for six months
• Complete all assignments six days of every seven

Stretch KR: Travel to a Spanish-speaking country and speak only Spanish

This book encouraged me to define my goals clearly and to establish objective criteria to determine if I achieved them.