Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs

Use of OKRs is fantastic in any size business. Global goal setting and feedback- everyone in the company on the same page! Get ideas from all levels to solve problems and see improvements. Love it. Get input from everyone. Super great examples of how it works. Very good summary of each chapter at the back for quick refresh. Every business owner should read this book to make that company run well.

"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.

I am a fan of business process books, and this book Measure What Matters, comes highly recommended. Any process that leads to transparent, cohesive goals for an organization is useful, and Objectives+Key-Results (OKR) as described in this book are a fine way of working towards that goal. The process is relatively simple, pick an objective and then key-results that will contribute to that objective. One of the nice aspects of OKR is that recent Microsoft (MS) Office releases have an OKR tracker embedded in the package that makes implementation easier if you are using MS Office. The book was good, but a few nits ... it has a lot of "marketing" material in the book, and some of the examples seem over-stated. When Intel decided to go after Motorola, the book says that everyone in the company worked on the objective, but Intel was a large company with a lot of support personnel. It is hard to believe that the janitorial staff, the admin sections, etc. all chipped in on that one objective. I understand that general idea, but it detracts from the book's credibility. The book does not spend a lot of time on giving examples of how to develop OKRs. It has a lot of illustrative examples of businesses that used OKRs and had miraculous turn-arounds, but the book spends little time on how to actually find and instantiate. A chapter or three that talked through the process with some simple examples would have been welcomed. Finally, I'm at a start-up now that is using the OKR methodology, and the book implies that you need to be "all in" on OKRs. We are finding that you need to find a way to work into OKR. The everywhere all at once approach the book advocates can be wildly impractical. All in all, this is a good idea, but the book would have benefitted from some additional how-to chapters and a little less marketing.

Amazing book for learning about OKRs, why they matter, and how to implement them. My team was the pioneer of OKRs in our department and have seen great success, enough so that now executive management has decided to move in this direction as well! If you’re interesting in leveraging OKRs, or if your business is starting on this journey, this book is a MUST READ.

Great read

Easy read and got the point across, but could have been shorter.

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.

Impressive book alot of information and learning experience

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.

It tells why setting up big goals are needed to achieve something big in your career or a team or as a company.

If you are a manager or in a role where process improvement is one of your job goals, this book is a really good read. It will give you a very useful lens to look at processes and their improvement. The same principles can be used for self improvement, but classifying it as a self improvement book is probably not right. In short, the book is definitely worth the time and money.

This book teaches you to set goals and how to teach them. Don’t go corporate, be disruptive. Stay focused, be flexible and achieve results.