Christina Wodtke Principle, Wodtke Consulting @cwodtke

1. Accomplish Big Goals With Objectives & Key Results
@cwodtke | cwodtke@eleganthack.com
www.eleganthack.com

3. I have worked many great places and done many impossible things.
Along the way, I have learned important lessons I’m here to share, including…

4. Don’t get sued

5. Once upon a time there was a start-up.

7. Hanna

8. Jack

12. Restaurant Suppliers

14. Restaurant Suppliers?
Hell no
Let’s talk to Jim

15. Jim
Let me tell you a story

17. “I looked out the window at the Ferris wheel of the Great America amusement park revolving in the distance, then I turned back to Gordon and I asked,
“If we got kicked out and the board brought in a new CEO, what do you think he would do?”

18. Gordon answered without hesitation,
“He would get us out of memories.”

19. “Why shouldn’t you and I walk out the door, come back and do it ourselves?” Andy Grove

20. Jim
“let’s pretend we’ve already decided”

21. Hire a sales guy?
Change the website…
Hire a sales team.

22. Restaurant Suppliers!

23. But wait, there’s more!

24. OKRs
Objectives and Key Results

25. OKRs
Objectives
Key results

26. OKRs
O: Dream
KR: Success criteria

27. “Google did more than adopt it,” says Doerr. “They embraced it.”
OKRs became an essential component of Google culture. Every employee had to set, and then
get approval for, quarterly OKRs and annual OKRs.”

28. OKRs
O: Qualitative
Shoot for the moon dream

29. Objective: Establish epic value to Northern California Restaurant Suppliers
as the best tea provider

30. OKRs
KR: Quantitative
“How do we know we met the objective?

31. KR: Hire a sales guy KR: redo the website KR: Place ads in Restaurant supply magazines

32. Jim
Those are tasks.
Not results.

33. KR: Reorders at 85%
KR: 20% of reorders self-serve
KR: Revenue of 250K

34. Jim
You want flexibility in the how, not the what.

35. Your turn!
Objective:
KR
KR
KR

36. OKR Test
Objective: Is it aspirational & qualitative?
KRs: Is it a result or a task?
Is it measureable?
Does it take a full quarter to achieve?
Is it really hard? 50% Confidence?

37. Objective: Establish epic value to suppliers
AND delight existing customers with a responsive customer service team
AND new order flow online to support reorders, reducing calls by 50%

38. Team reluctantly agrees
Hell no

40. Team Wiffed ALL

42. I want you to meet…

43. Raphael

45. You’re doing it WRONG

46. FOCUS

47. objective

48. UNITES EFFORTS

49. Key Results

50. DEFINES SUCCESS

51. IT’S NOT EVERYTHING YOU DO

52. IT’S WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO

53. CADENCE

54. Commitment
Mondays are for promises

56. Objective: Establish clear value to distributers as a quality tea provider
KR: Reorders at 85% 5/10
KR: 20% of reorders self-serve 5/10
KR: Revenue of 250K 5/10
Priorities this week
Next 4 weeks - Projects
OKR Confidence
Team Health: Distributor satisfaction Health:
Health
Yellow
P1
P1
P1
Green
Close deal with TLM Foods
Team struggling with direction change
3 solid sales candidates in for interview
Passive reorder notifications
New self serve flow for distributors
Metrics for distributors on tea sales
Hire Customer service head
New Order flow Spec’d

57. Objective: Establish clear value to distributers as a quality tea provider
KR: Reorders at 85% 5/10
KR: 20% of reorders self-serve 5/10
KR: Revenue of 250K 5/10
Priorities this week
Next 4 weeks - Projects
OKR Confidence
Team Health: Distributor satisfaction Health:
Org Health
Yellow
P1
P1
P1
Green
Close deal with TLM Foods
Team struggling with direction change
3 solid sales candidates in for interview
Passive reorder notifications
New self serve flow for distributors
Metrics for distributors on tea sales
Hire Customer service head
New Order flow Spec’d
Commitment!

58. Objective: Establish clear value to distributers as a quality tea provider
KR: Reorders at 85% 5/10
KR: 20% of reorders self-serve 5/10
KR: Revenue of 250K 5/10
Priorities this week
Next 4 weeks - Projects
OKR Confidence
Team Health: Distributor satisfaction Health:
Org Health
Yellow
P1
P1
P1
Green
Close deal with TLM Foods
Team struggling with direction change
3 solid sales candidates in for interview
Passive reorder notifications
New self serve flow for distributors
Metrics for distributors on tea sales
Hire Customer service head
New Order flow Spec’d
Commitment!
Heads up!

59. Objective: Establish clear value to distributers as a quality tea provider
KR: Reorders at 85% 5/10
KR: 20% of reorders self-serve 5/10
KR: Revenue of 250K 5/10
Priorities this week
Next 4 weeks - Projects
OKR Confidence
Team Health: Distributor satisfaction Health:
Org Health
Yellow
P1
P1
P1
Green
Close deal with TLM Foods
Team struggling with direction change
3 solid sales candidates in for interview
Passive reorder notifications
New self serve flow for distributors
Metrics for distributors on tea sales
Hire Customer service head
New Order flow Spec’d
Commitment!
Heads up!
Discussion & Support!

60. Objective: Establish clear value to distributers as a quality tea provider
KR: Reorders at 85% 5/10
KR: 20% of reorders self-serve 5/10
KR: Revenue of 250K
Priorities this week
Next 4 weeks - Projects
OKR Confidence
Team Health: Distributor satisfaction Health:
Org Health
Yellow
P1
P1
P1
Green
Close deal with TLM Foods
Team struggling with direction change
3 solid sales candidates in for interview
Passive reorder notifications
New self serve flow for distributors
Metrics for distributors on tea sales
Hire Customer service head
New Order flow Spec’d
Commitment!
Heads up!
Discussion & Support!
Protect what matters

61. DEDICATION TO YOUR GOALS TO YOUR TEAM

62. Fridays are for Wins & Wine
(or beer)

63. Engineering demos

64. Engineering demos
Design demos

65. Engineering demos
Design demos
Sales & Bizdev shares wins

66. Engineering demos
Design demos
Sales & Bizdev shares wins
Beer

67. Everybody needs bragging time
•Motivates team to have something to share
•Makes you feel like part of something special
•Show progress

68. Back to the Team
We’re doomed

69. You didn't make your OKRs…

70. "I don't think we're marketing right"
"We had to deal with wrong orders and late deliveries to Los Gatos"
"We didn't hire a second salesperson!"
"We had some problems with the performance of the site"

71. Hold on! Most companies fail the first time they try OKRs

72. It’s OK.
We’re trying again… but this time
One OKR for quarter

73. One OKR for quarter
Weekly check-ins
It’s OK.
We’re trying again… but this time

74. It’s OK.
We’re trying again… but this time
One OKR for quarter
Weekly check-ins
Friday Celebrations

76. Team made 2 of 3 KRs!

77. Metrics are growing!

78. Series A

79. Happily ever after?

80. BUT WAIT
THERE’S MORE

81. GOODBYE RATRACE

82. OBJECTIVE: BE FINANCIALLY STABLE, PRESERVE HEALTH DO WORK I LIKE.

83. KR: EARN 30K OVER THREE MONTHS DOING WORK I’D DO EVEN IF I WASN’T PAID

84. KR: HAVE A MANAGEABLE BUDGET TO PREDICT EXPANSES

85. KR: ZERO ACID REFLUX, ZERO BACK PAIN

87. HELLO, DREAMLIFE

88. Thanks to my awesome students in my Designer as Founder class. Especially An, Justin, and Jack for their lead roles.
They were paid in pizza, just like a real startup.

89. Thank You
@cwodtke
www.cwodtke.com
I coach teams and individuals to make dreams into realities.
New Book coming soon!
Get notified at alert.theexecutionerstale. com

91. WHY CAN’T WE GET THINGS DONE?

93. RADICAL FOCUS

94. Objective: Establish epic value to suppliers
AND delight existing customers with a responsive customer service team
AND new order flow online to support reorders, reducing calls by 50%

95. Objective: Establish epic value to Northern California Restaurant Suppliers
as the best tea provider

96. Wait!
We can’t just forget about RevenueCodeHealthCustoemrSatisfactionSalesHiring

97. PUSH VS PROTECT
Team Health: Distributor satisfaction Health:
Org Health
Yellow
Green
Team struggling with direction change
Objective: Establish clear value to distributers as a quality tea provider
KR: Reorders at 85% 5/10
KR: 20% of reorders self-serve 5/10
KR: Revenue of 250K 5/10
OKR Confidence

98. COMMUNICATION

99. “WHEN YOU ARE TIRED OF SAYING IT, THEY ARE STARTING TO HEAR IT” – JEFF WEINER

100. Objective: Establish clear value to distributers as a quality tea provider
KR: Reorders at 85% 5/10
KR: 20% of reorders self-serve 5/10
KR: Revenue of 250K 5/10
Key Risk Factors: Need new self-serve system up in first month
Priorities this week
Next 4 weeks - Projects
OKR Confidence
Team Health: Distributor satisfaction Health:
Org Health
Yellow
P1
P1
P1
Green
Close deal with TLM Foods
Team struggling with direction change
# solid sales canidates in for interview
Passive reorder notifications
New self serve flow for distributors
Metrics for distributors on tea sales
Hire Customer service head
New Order flow
Monday

101. Restate that goal!
It’s a conversation
Objective: Establish clear value to distributers as a quality tea provider
KR: Reorders at 85% 5/10
KR: 20% of reorders self-serve 5/10
KR: Revenue of 250K 5/10
Key Risk Factors: Need new self-serve system up in first month
OKR Confidence

102. Do these efforts more us closer to the goal?
Keep a backlog of ideas
Experiment with what impacts the OKRs
FIGHT! ARGUE!
Priorities this week
P1
P1
P1
Close deal with TLM Foods
# solid sales canidates in for interview
New Order flow

103. What are we doing next toward that goal?
Make sure everyone know what’s happening
Ask for help
Track trains that never arrive
Next 4 weeks - Projects
Passive reorder notifications
New self serve flow for distributors
Metrics for distributors on tea sales
Hire Customer service head

104. Is our goal hurting anything we care about?
Team Health
Code Health
Customer Satisfaction
Revenues
Team Health: Distributor satisfaction Health:
Org Health
Yellow
Green
Team struggling with direction change

105. STATUS EMAILS

106. OKRS rewritten, reevaluated in every status

107. FRIDAYS

108. Restate the Goal in Wins
•Engineering demos
•Design shows
•Sales brags
•Customer service stories
•Business Development crows
•Everybody SHARES WINS TOWARDS GOAL

109. “WHEN YOU ARE TIRED OF SAYING IT, THEY ARE STARTING TO HEAR IT” – JEFF WEINER

111. Important
Unimportant
Urgent
Not Urgent
DO now!
Drop it
PLAN it
Delegate

112. TOMORROW NEVER COMES

113. MAKE IT URGENT

114. PLAN

115. JUST DO IT

116. LIES!

117. MISSION
Start here

118. Google
to organize the world‘s information and make it universally accessible and useful

119. Amazon
“to be Earth’s most customer- centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices”

120. Philz mission is to “Better Peoples Day.”

121. All Are
•Short (or have a mini-version)
•Clear
•Inspirational
•Memorable

123. SET YOUR OKRS WELL

124. Examples
•Product is embraced by the marketplace
•Platform delights developers and users
•Become the community online for creatives

125. All Are
•Short (or have a mini- version)
•Clear
•Inspirational
•Memorable

126. Does your objective make you jump out of bed in the morning?

127. OBJECTIVE IS A MISSION FOR THREE MONTHS

128. GOOD KEY RESULTS

130. HOW DO YOU KNOW?

131. HOW DO I KNOW?
Ratings?
Sales?
Reviews?
Blog posts?
Articles?
Tweets?
Likes?

132. RESULTS vs TASKS

133. O: Book is available and generating buzz
•Kr: Publish book on amazon
•Kr: Contact a PR person
•Kr: Give a keynote on book topic

134. O: Book is available and generating buzz
•Kr: Review copies out to beta customers and 100 influencers resulting in 5 reviews of 4< stars
•Kr: Dec sales of 1K
•Kr: 5 cold leads for talks/workshops from book

135. “WHAT GETS MEASURED, GETS MANAGED“ PETER DRUCKER

137. PREPARE TO FAIL

138. SAND- BAGGING

139. OVER REACHING

140. NO CADENCE

141. FAIL & LEARN

142. know your Mission set your Objectives choose your Actions learn from your Results

143. do MOAR

144. Tips on OKRS
•Set only 1 OKR for the company, unless you have multiple business lines. It’s about focus.
•OKRs are not the only thing you do, they are the one thing you must do. Expect people to keep the ship running
•Give yourself 3 months for an OKR. How bold is it if you can do it in a week?
•Keep the metrics out of the objective. The objective is •In the weekly check in, open with company OKR then do groups
•OKRs cascade; set company OKRs, then groups/roles, and then individual’s.
•Weekly OKR check in is a conversation. Be sure to discuss change in confidence, health metrics and priorities
•Encourage employees to suggest company OKRs.
Learn more: http://www.eleganthack.com/the-art-of-the-okr/

145. FUNDAMENTALS

146. MISSION
Find your North Star

147. Google
to organize the world‘s information and make it universally accessible and useful

148. Amazon
“to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible

149. Philz mission is to “Better Peoples Day.”

150. Eatclub
Bring Joy to Work through Food

151. All Are
•Short (or have a mini- version)
•Clear
•Inspirational
•Memorable

153. WHAT’S YOUR MISSION?

154. SET YOUR OKRS WELL

155. Examples
•Product is embraced by the marketplace
•Platform delights developers and users
•Become the community

156. All Are
•Short (or have a mini- version)
•Clear
•Inspirational
•Memorable

157. Does your objective make you jump out of bed in the morning?

158. Is it hard to do (but possible with effort) in one quarter?

159. GOOD KEY RESULTS

161. HOW DO YOU KNOW?

162. HOW DO I KNOW?
Ratings?
Sales?
Reviews?
Blog posts?
Articles?
Tweets?
Likes?

163. RESULTS vs TASKS

164. O: Book is available and generating buzz
•Kr: Publish book on amazon
•Kr: Contact a PR person
•Kr: Give a keynote on book topic

165. O: Book is available and generating buzz
•Kr: Review copies out to beta customers and 100 influencers resulting in 5 reviews of 4< stars
•Kr: Dec sales of 1K
•Kr: 5 cold leads for talks/workshops from book

167. “WHAT GETS MEASURED, GETS MANAGED“ PETER DRUCKER

168. Rule of thumb for product OKRs
KR 1: Revenue
KR 2: Adoption or usage (users)
Kr 3: Satisfaction

169. ARE MY GOALS DIFFICULT?
But not impossible

171. PLANNING WITH OKRS

172. THE CONE OF UNCERTAINTY
I can predict what will happen tomorrow
I can guess about next month
I’m lying to myself if I say I know what’s happening next year

174. 4 O, 3 KRS

175. O: POSITION BOOK IN MARKETPLACE Kr: book published digitally on amazon Kr: review copies out to beta customers and 100 influencers resulting in 5 reviews of 4< stars Kr: Dec sales of 1K
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
O: EPIC BOOK ADOPTION
O: OKR CONFERENCE
O: SECOND BOOK IN MARKETPLACE

176. Act as if it were true
Until it’s proven wrong
Then adjust

177. COMMIT WEEKLY

178. Objective: Establish clear value to distributers as a quality tea provider KR: Reorders at 85% 5/10 KR: 20% of reorders self-serve 5/10 KR: Revenue of 250K 5/10 Key Risk Factors: Need new self-serve system up in first month
Priorities this week
Next 4 weeks - Projects
OKR Confidence
Team Health: Distributor satisfaction Health:
Org Health
Yellow
P1
P1
P1
Green
Close deal with TLM Foods
Team struggling with direction change
# solid sales canidates in for interview
Passive reorder notifications
New self serve flow for distributors
Metrics for distributors on tea sales
Hire Customer service head
New Order flow
Mondays each team lead shares:
•Week’s Priorities ( to get help & make commitment)
•Near term roadmap (heads up!)
•OKR confidence
•Key health indicators

179. SLOT IN EFFORTS TOWARD OBJECTIVE
Keep a backlog of ideas
Experiment with what impacts the OKRs
Priorities this week
P1
P1
P1
Close deal with TLM Foods
# solid sales canidates in for interview
New Order flow

180. HEADS UP
Make sure everyone know what’s happening
Ask for help
Track trains that never arrive
Next 4 weeks - Projects
Passive reorder notifications
New self serve flow for distributors
Metrics for distributors on tea sales
Hire Customer service head

181. IS CONFIDENCE UP OR DOWN?
It’s a conversation
Objective: Establish clear value to distributers as a quality tea provider KR: Reorders at 85% 5/10 KR: 20% of reorders self-serve 5/10 KR: Revenue of 250K 5/10 Key Risk Factors: Need new self-serve system up in first month
OKR Confidence

182. Health Metrics
Team Health
Code Health
Customer Satisfaction
Revenues
Team Health: Distributor satisfaction Health:
Org Health
Yellow
Green
Team struggling with direction change

183. PUSH VS PROTECT
Team Health: Distributor satisfaction Health:
Org Health
Yellow
Green
Team struggling with direction change
Objective: Establish clear value to distributers as a quality tea provider KR: Reorders at 85% 5/10 KR: 20% of reorders self-serve 5/10 KR: Revenue of 250K 5/10 Key Risk Factors: Need new self-serve system up in first month
OKR Confidence

184. STATUS EMAILS

186. CELEBRATE

187. Who celebrates?
•Engineering demos
•Design shows
•Sales brags
•Customer service stories
•Business Development crows
•Everybody SHARES WINS

188. LEARN

189. SAY DO
]
Why?

190. WHY?

191. “WHEN YOU ARE TIRED OF SAYING IT, THEY ARE STARTING TO HEAR IT” – JEFF WEINER

192. HOW TO

193. ARE MY GOALS DIFFICULT?
But not impossible

195. Timeline
2 weeks before the end of the quarter, your know how you’ve done with your OKRs

196. Timeline
2 weeks before the quarter, start setting OKRs

197. Timeline EoQ
1.Review OKRs, and call them
2.Write out accomplishments
3.Reviews and Bonuses

198. Timeline B0Q
1.Gather company input
2.Execs set company goals
3.Teams set goals
4.Individuals set goals

199. Team goals
•Pick as aspect of the company OKRs you can own
•Make new OKRs from it

201. PERFORMANCE

202. Performance Reviews
Don’t
•Wait until he end of the year
•Base them on OKR completion (leads to sandbagging)
•Dawdle or procrastinate
•Try to be a buddy
Do
•Have them quarterly
•Have the employee write a 500 word essay on her accomplishments
•Be quick, light and frequent
•Be fact based
•Be compassionate

205. Thanks to my awesome students in my Designer as Founder class. Especially An, Justin, and Jack for their lead roles.
They were paid in pizza, just like a real startup.