OKRs aid Einheit

The creation and transmission of OKRs help in increasing Einheit (The five elements of an organization that can exploit OODA loops) in that it aligns everyone towards a specific direction.

Initially, I thought it defines a Schwerpunkt, but it somehow seems wrong. The Schwerpunkt needs to be more amenable to change. It might grease Auftragstaktik, though, if done right.

Overall, though, OKRs seem not so great in dealing with Complexity. It can also be in direct violation of Deming’s ideas about measurement. MBO ignores processes.

“Instead if you manage to their inputs and clarity of thinking, your best people will focus on projects that have the highest potential upside that is explainable, even if they are risky and totally flop. This is part of why Keith hates OKRs; setting your goal to just 3x your revenue over the year will never lead to your best”

This article does a good job of detailing why OKRs aren’t that great, and advocates systems thinking, complexity thinking, statistics etc instead. Highlights (OKRs are not that great)

Notes mentioning this note

MBO ignores processes
[[Deming]] in point 11b of his [[14 Points for Management]] directly opposes [[Drucker]] who first popularized Management by objectives in...
MBO ignores processes
[[Deming]] in point 11b of his [[14 Points for Management]] directly opposes [[Drucker]] who first popularized Management by objectives in...

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