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1. Unlocking Success: A Deep Dive into OKRs
   “Measure What Matters” by John Doerr is an insightful exploration of the power of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) in driving organizational success.The book proves to be immensely helpful in understanding the practical application of OKRs, particularly through the compelling showcase of how notable companies like Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation have harnessed this goal-setting framework to achieve remarkable results.Doerr’s narrative skillfully intertwines real-world examples and case studies, offering valuable insights into the transformative impact of OKRs on focus, alignment, and overall performance within diverse business settings.Whether you’re a business leader, entrepreneur, or anyone interested in effective goal-setting strategies, “Measure What Matters” serves as an inspirational and instructive guide, demonstrating the tangible benefits of adopting OKRs in driving success and innovation.

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2. Fresh, pragmatically and needed.
   This book is an oasis In the desert to our professional development. The pragmatically examples are gems to inspire my day to day work.

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3. … Doerr began his career under the tutelage of the great Andy Grove
   Author John Doerr began his career under the tutelage of the great Andy Grove, CEO of Intel, who transformed that company into the world’s largest manufacturer of semiconductors. It was Andy Grove who turned a simple method “OKRs”, into a devastatingly effective business tool which became the lifeblood of Intel.In 1978, Intel had developed the first high-performance, 16-bit microprocessor, the 8086. Soon it was getting overtaken by Motorola’s 68000 which was easier to program. Using OKRs, Intel launched “Operation Crush” to deal with this threat. The results were fast, focused and effective. “When we smacked Motorola between the eyes,” Doerr writes, “A manager there told me, ‘I couldn’t get a plane ticket from Chicago to Arizona approved in the time you took to launch your campaign.’”Doerr left Intel to join the venture capital firm at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and became an early investor in Google. There he managed to entrench Andy Grove’s business tool to great effect and it is acknowledged as a key contributor to Google’s success. The results have made Doerr the 105th richest man in the US. This book describes how to use this tool.John Doerr is the current evangelist for OKRs, OKR stands for Objectives and Key Results. As a strategist, I know the importance of knowing where you are going or as Yogi Berra pithily said: “If you don’t know where you’re going, you might not get there.” However, as Doerr writes, and as you and I know, “Ideas are easy. Execution is everything.”OKRs are for executing. An “objective” is simply what is to be achieved, no more and no less. Key results benchmark and monitor how we get to the objective. The difference between ‘key results’ and ‘key performance indicators’ are very different. I may really be impressed that you performed well, but your efforts are only useful if you achieved the results I need.Marissa Mayer would say of OKRs, “It’s not a key result unless it has a number.” With a number attached, OKRs are either met of not met. There is no grey area, no room for doubt. The time frame for an OKR can vary from a month to a quarter or more, but at the end of the period, they have either been met or they have not.When the objective is clear and specific, it produces far better results than when it is vaguely worded. ‘Performance excellence,’ or ‘Customer satisfaction’ are very different when expressed as ‘98% error free’, or ‘delivered within 12 hours’.Aside from Google and Intel, OKR adherents include IT firms such as AOL, Dropbox, LinkedIn, Oracle, Slack, Spotify, and Twitter. But adherents also include firms such as Anheuser-Busch, BMW, Disney, Exxon, and Samsung.The simplicity of the design of OKRs hides the complexity of implementing the method. When the OKR is formulated, it will undergo iteration – this is inevitable. And this is not the problem. The problem is the commitment of the most senior managers to the discipline that is required.Without the most senior managers’ commitment this will fail, much as your previous systems have failed to produce the promised result. In a meta-analysis of seventy studies, high commitment to managing the company by objectives showed a productivity increase of 56%. Where that commitment was low, productivity increases were a mere 6%.The problem with getting results is compounded when we are employing people to think. On an assembly line, it’s easy enough to distinguish output from activity. It gets trickier when employees are paid to think.In a thinking environment, many of the benefits of OKRs are highlighted. A particular challenge for many in such an environment is separating the person from the activity. All too often, feedback becomes very personal leading many managers to avoid confronting non-performance. When the focus is on unequivocal results that can be tracked, then non-performance can move to an analytical discussion. After all, a performance management system is a tool, not a weapon.The OKR is formulated as “We will achieve a certain objective as measured by the following key results. This begins at the highest appropriate level of the organization and then all below can align their OKRs to this meta-OKR.When Bob Noyce and Andy Grove began the “Crush” project, the directive to Intel’s management level was simple and clear: “We’re going to win in 16-bit microprocessors. We’re committed to this.” This objective was given to the top one hundred people at the meeting. It was conveyed to the next level in 24 hours. Intel was close to a billion-dollar company at the time, and “it turned on a dime” – through a clear, aligned, objective and a clear required result.The “Crush” project included top management, the entire sales force, four different marketing departments, and three geographic locations—all working together as one. It was proof of Andy Groves assertion that “Bad companies are destroyed by crisis. Good companies survive them. Great companies are improved by them.”Great companies are not great because they have a great idea, but because their execution is great. There are no exceptions. Those who do not have excellent execution are an accident waiting to happen. Using OKRs, a successful organization can focus on the handful of initiatives that can make a real difference and defer the less urgent ones.The very act of formulating the objective makes communication with clarity possible. Focusing on results rather than activities allows people to adjust their activities to meet the results, rather than to slavishly following performance indicators, as the environment changes.Consider this horrifying finding: In a survey of eleven thousand senior executives and managers, a majority couldn’t name their company’s top priorities!“There are so many people working so hard and achieving so little,” Andy Grove noted. To address this issue will require commitment to making the OKR process effective, and this commitment should not be understated, which is why it has to start from the very top.If you are a leader of your business your commitment should start with a reading of John Doerr’s book, and then share it with your colleagues.My personal experience with the process is best summed up by actress Mae West’s famous statement: I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it.Readability Light –+– SeriousInsights High —+- LowPractical High +—- Low*Ian Mann of Gateways consults internationally on strategy and implementation and is the author of the recently released ‘Executive Update.’

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4. Good quality
   I have not read the book yet. I got it to read for work, but the quality is good you can barely tell it is used at all so a good price and value

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5. Excellent way to learn about a framework used by Andy Grove and Google. Specific examples and case studies are terrific!
   I couldn’t put this book down, so I read it in one sitting.Many business books talk about the organizational brilliance of Andy Grove’s Intel, Google, disruptive startups, and high-performing charities. This one actively teaches you how to mimic their organizational brilliance. The book distinguishes itself by providing clear examples of how OKRs help organizations achieve their full potential. Primary source documents, including internal memos, show how Intel CEO Andy Grove used OKRs to rapidly respond to competitive threats.As an admirer of Google, I enjoyed learning how OKRs were used at key points in its history. When Google employed 25 people, CEO Larry Page set OKRs for every engineer. When Chrome sought to disrupt the browser market, OKRs enhanced the product team’s creativity. When YouTube sought to establish its own identity within Google, OKRs helped the team set appropriate business goals. It’s really nice that specific OKRs from Google’s history are included in the book.Some people mistakenly believe that OKRs only work for Google, and the book provides clear examples of how OKRs were successfully implemented by startups, large corporations, and non-profit organizations. Entrepreneurs will enjoy learning how fitness, education, healthcare, and food delivery startups used OKRs to find new markets and manage their expanding headcount. Fans of corporate transformations will enjoy learning how OKRs led to human resources and technology process overhauls at some of the world’s largest companies. Non-profit leaders will enjoy learning how the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Bono used OKRs to impact millions.All in all, I found the chapters to be short yet impactful, and arranged in a logical sequence. I particularly liked that as the book progresses, it provides clear examples of how to overcome the nuances of implementing OKRs. I felt my OKR-setting muscles getting stronger by the end of the book.

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6. Read it and comment bellow if it is not.As a manager we commonly fall for lack of vision from the top.This book clearly illustrates what an on sync enterprise can accomplish.Totally worth the time.

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7. Todo llegó muy bien y rápido

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8. Fantastic book. Wish I had read it a lot earlier in my career. Simplifies a very complicated process. Lovely examples as well.

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9. I was new to the concept of OKRs’, however, this book, so well laid out and so well written was great.I go back to it time and time again, and love the case studies. I have ordered as gifts for fellow entrepreneurs.

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10. Da viele Rezensionen hier verhältnismäßig negativ sind, fühle ich mich gezwungen ein paar Worte zu dem Buch zu schreiben. Ich bin der Meinung, dass dieses Buch ist, was man daraus macht, wie so vieles im Leben. Persönlich halte ich das Buch für wahnsinnig gut und brilliant.Was man Wissen sollte, aber bereits der Einband hergibt, es handelt sich mit Sicherheit nicht um eine wissenschaftliche Abhandlung oder Anleitung um all seine Probleme zu lösen und das perfekte Unternehmen aufzubauen. Hier werde OKRs dargestellt, ein simples, aber brilliantes Tool zur strategischen Zielsetzung in Unternehmen. Um dieses Tool zu veranschaulichen, gibt es viele Beispiele, die zumeist ein Kapitel umfassen, von Google, über die Melinda and Bill Gates Stiftung bis zu ONE ist alles dabei. Die Kapitel sind kurz gehalten und daher sehr gut leserlich. Als Ressourcen sind dann auch noch ein Auszug von Googles OKR Prozess gegeben, was mit Sicherheit eine gute Orientierung ist. Als kleines i-Tüpfelchen sehe ich noch die vielen Geschichten und persönlichen Erzählungen des Autors und des gesamten Silicon Valley.Alles in allem halte ich dieses Buch für sehr gelungen um OKRs und die sich ergebenden Möglichkeiten zu verstehen. Die persönlichen Noten des Autors machen dieses Buch zu etwa besonderem unter den Business Ratgebern. Ich werde dieses Buch mit Sicherheit weiterempfehlen und kann daher auch hier nur zu einem Kauf raten.

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