Table Of Content“Measure What Matters takes you behind the scenes for the creation of Intel’s
powerful OKR system—one of Andy Grove’s finest legacies.”
—Gordon Moore, cofounder and former chairman of Intel
“Measure What Matters will transform your approach to setting goals for
yourself and your organization. Whether you are in a small start-up, or large
global company, John Doerr pushes every leader to think deeply about creating a
focused, purpose-driven business environment.”
—Mellody Hobson, president of Ariel Investments
“John Doerr is a Silicon Valley legend. He explains how transparently setting
objectives and defining key results can align organizations and motivate high
performance.”
—Jonathan Levin, dean of Stanford Graduate School of Business
“Measure What Matters is a gift to every leader or entrepreneur who wants a
more transparent, accountable, and effective team. It encourages the kind of big,
bold bets that can transform an organization.”
—John Chambers, executive chairman of Cisco
“In addition to being a terrific personal history of tech in Silicon Valley,
Measure What Matters is an essential handbook for both small and large
organizations; the methods described will definitely drive great execution.”
—Diane Greene, founder and CEO of VMware, Alphabet board member, and CEO of Google Cloud
Portfolio/Penguin
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Doerr, John E., author.
Title: Measure what matters : how Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation rock the world with OKRs /
John Doerr.
Description: New York : Portfolio/Penguin, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018002727| ISBN 9780525536222 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780525536239 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Business planning. | Performance. | Goal (Psychology) | Organizational effectiveness.
Classification: LCC HD30.28 .D634 2018 | DDC 658.4/012—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018002727
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responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher does not have any
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Version_2
For Ann, Mary, and Esther and the wonder of their unconditional love
CONTENTS
PRAISE FOR MEASURE WHAT MATTERS
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT
DEDICATION
FOREWORD Larry Page, Alphabet CEO and Google Cofounder
OKRs in Action
PART ONE:
1 Google, Meet OKRs
How OKRs came to Google, and the superpowers they convey.
2 The Father of OKRs
Andy Grove creates and inculcates a new way of structured goal setting.
3 Operation Crush: An Intel Story
How OKRs won the microprocessor wars.
4 Superpower #1: Focus and Commit to Priorities
OKRs help us choose what matters most.
5 Focus: The Remind Story
Brett Kopf used OKRs to overcome attention deficit disorder.
6 Commit: The Nuna Story
Jini Kim’s personal commitment to transform health care.
7 Superpower #2: Align and Connect for Teamwork
Public, transparent OKRs spark and strengthen collaboration.
8 Align: The MyFitnessPal Story
Alignment via OKRs is more challenging—and rewarding—than Mike Lee anticipated.
9 Connect: The Intuit Story
Atticus Tysen uses OKR transparency to fortify a software pioneer’s open culture.
10 Superpower #3: Track for Accountability
OKRs help us monitor progress and course-correct.
11 Track: The Gates Foundation Story
A $20 billion start-up wields OKRs to fight devastating diseases.
12 Superpower #4: Stretch for Amazing
OKRs empower us to achieve the seemingly impossible.
13 Stretch: The Google Chrome Story
CEO Sundar Pichai uses OKRs to build the world’s leading web browser.
14 Stretch: The YouTube Story
CEO Susan Wojcicki and an audacious billion-hour goal.
The New World of Work
PART TWO:
15 Continuous Performance Management: OKRs and CFRs
How conversations, feedback, and recognition help to achieve excellence.
16 Ditching Annual Performance Reviews: The Adobe Story
Adobe affirms core values with conversations and feedback.
17 Baking Better Every Day: The Zume Pizza Story
A robotics pioneer leverages OKRs for teamwork and leadership—and to create the perfect
pizza.
18 Culture
OKRs catalyze culture; CFRs nourish it.
19 Culture Change: The Lumeris Story
Overcoming OKR resistance with a culture makeover.
20 Culture Change: Bono’s ONE Campaign Story
The world’s greatest rock star deploys OKRs to save lives in Africa.
21 The Goals to Come
DEDICATION
RESOURCE 1: Google’s OKR Playbook
RESOURCE 2: A Typical OKR Cycle
RESOURCE 3: All Talk: Performance Conversations
RESOURCE 4: In Sum
RESOURCE 5: For Further Reading
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
NOTES
INDEX
FOREWORD
Larry Page
Alphabet CEO and Google Cofounder
I
wish I had had this book nineteen years ago, when we founded Google. Or
even before that, when I was only managing myself! As much as I hate
process, good ideas with great execution are how you make magic. And
that’s where OKRs come in.
John Doerr showed up one day in 1999 and delivered a lecture to us on
objectives and key results, and how we should run the company based on his
experience at Intel. We knew Intel was run well, and John’s talk made a lot of
intuitive sense, so we decided we’d give it a try. I think it’s worked out pretty
well for us.
OKRs are a simple process that helps drive varied organizations forward. We
have adapted how we use it over the years. Take it as a blueprint and make it
yours, based on what you want to see happen!
For leaders, OKRs give a lot of visibility into an organization. They also
provide a productive way to push back. For example, you might ask: “Why can’t
users load a video on YouTube almost instantly? Isn’t that more important than
this other goal you’re planning to do next quarter?”
I’m glad to join in celebrating the memory of Bill Campbell, which John has
done very nicely at the conclusion of the book. Bill was a fantastically warm
human being who had the gift of almost always being right—especially about
people. He was not afraid to tell anyone about how “full of shit” they were, and
somehow they would still like him even after that. I miss Bill’s weekly
haranguing very much. May everyone have a Bill Campbell in their lives—or
even strive to make themselves be a bit more like the Coach!
I don’t write a lot of forewords. But I agreed to do this one because John gave
Google a tremendous gift all those years ago. OKRs have helped lead us to 10x
growth, many times over. They’ve helped make our crazily bold mission of
“organizing the world’s information” perhaps even achievable. They’ve kept me
and the rest of the company on time and on track when it mattered the most. And
I wanted to make sure people heard that.
Larry Page and John Doerr, 2014.
