# Radical Focus SECOND EDITION  ## Metadata - Author: [[R Wodtke, Christina]] - Full Title: Radical Focus SECOND EDITION - Category: #books ## Highlights - OKR technique, and how that technique can be used to help empower your product teams with problems to solve (the objectives), and shift the focus of their work to outcomes (the key results). ([Location 94](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B0939T8ZS8&location=94)) - Some leaders understand that it’s really the culture change that matters, but they hope that applying the OKR technique will serve as a stepping stone to an empowered team culture. But that’s like thinking you can buy a pair of high-performance skis as a stepping stone to actually learning how to ski. ([Location 101](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B0939T8ZS8&location=101)) - Note: Like buying some Nike wishing that helps tomorrow's morning to get up and run to have a life in balance. - I’ve spent my time since 2014 teaching at my new position at Stanford, writing Pencil Me In2 and then The Team that Managed Itself, which explains the other two legs of a successful management approach. ([Location 127](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B0939T8ZS8&location=127)) - “Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what you need done and let them surprise you with their results.” ([Location 149](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B0939T8ZS8&location=149)) - Tags: [[favorite]] - Instead, groups of executives and other stakeholders all too often come up with the quarterly “roadmap” of features and projects and then pass them down to the product teams, essentially telling them how to solve the underlying business problems. The teams are just there to flesh out the details, code and test, with little understanding of the bigger context, and even less belief that these are in fact the right solutions. ([Location 158](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B0939T8ZS8&location=158)) - Note: Top-down roadmaps - These kids are convinced that their idea is so precious and amazing that the hard work has been done. Nothing left but to get a-coding! ([Location 173](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B0939T8ZS8&location=173)) - Ideas, like NDAs, aren’t worth the paper they are printed on. ([Location 174](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B0939T8ZS8&location=174)) - The writers. The musicians. They struggle, and they only have to manage themselves! The filmmakers and the entrepreneurs have even a greater challenge. Yet somehow these people manage to fight against the long odds against them to make their idea take form. ([Location 181](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B0939T8ZS8&location=181)) - The system I use is made up of three simple parts. One: Set inspiring and measurable goals. Two: Make sure you and your team are always making progress toward that desired end state. No matter how many other things are on your plate. And three: Set a cadence that makes sure the group both remembers what they are trying to accomplish and holds each other accountable. ([Location 185](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B0939T8ZS8&location=185)) - I know I’ve got a good Objective when Ileap out of bed in the morning eager to make it happen. I know I’ve got the right Key Results when I am also a little scared you can’t make them. ([Location 194](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B0939T8ZS8&location=194))  ## New highlights added October 17, 2024 at 12:53 AM > OKRs has been more or less standardized. The Objective is qualitative, and the Key Results (most often three) are quantitative. OKRs are used to focus a group or individual around a bold goal. The Objective establishes a goal for a set period of time, usually a quarter. The Key Results tell you if the Objective has been met by the end of that time. ([Location 1140](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B0939T8ZS8&location=1140)) > How to Write a Good Objective Your Objective is a single sentence that is: ... Qualitative and Inspirational ... Time Bound ... Actionable by the Team Independently ([Location 1147](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B0939T8ZS8&location=1147)) > An Objective is like a mission statement, only for a shorter period of time. I think of it like this: A mission is an Objective for five years, and an Objective is a mission for three months. A great Objective inspires the team, is hard (but not impossible) to do in a set time frame, and can be done by the person or people who have set it, independently. ([Location 1162](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B0939T8ZS8&location=1162)) > Key Results Key Results take all that inspirational language and quantify it. You create them by asking a simple question, “How would we know if we met our Objective?” ([Location 1168](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B0939T8ZS8&location=1168)) > Basics of Setting Key Results Start by looking at your Objective, for example, “Our customers love us so much they are our sales team.” Now ask, “If our customers were our sales team, what numbers would move?” I often look at the Objective and see if there are words that could be quantified. In the example above, “love” becomes NPS4 and “sales” becomes referrals. Both are measurable outcomes. KR: NPS >7 KR: Referrals +25% KR: “How did you hear of us” survey results: Friends and Family up 20% ([Location 1176](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B0939T8ZS8&location=1176)) > Using OKRs helps you move the team from output thinking to outcome thinking. It may take a few tries, but you will be more successful once you focus on outcomes. ([Location 1184](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B0939T8ZS8&location=1184)) > I like to develop Key Results using a technique called “freelisting.” Freelisting is a design thinking technique. To do it, simply write down as many ideas on a topic as you can, one idea per sticky note. ([Location 1185](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B0939T8ZS8&location=1185)) > Indicators tend to direct your attention toward what they are monitoring. It is like riding a bicycle: you will probably steer it where you are looking. If, for example, you start measuring your inventory levels carefully, you are likely to take action to drive your inventory levels down, which is good up to a point. But your inventories could become so lean that you can’t react to changes in demand without creating shortages. So because indicators direct one’s activities, you should guard against overreacting. This you can do by pairing indicators, so that together both effect and counter-effect are measured. ([Location 1192](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B0939T8ZS8&location=1192)) > Sometimes your health metrics act as counter-balances to the OKRs, and I’ll cover them later in the chapter. But sometimes you want to lend nuance to your Objective. Customers love us? Revenue might be one indicator, but so might customer service calls (they should go down). Want to sell more units, but don’t want sales using deception to move product? You may wish to also set a satisfaction score. Common pairs include long term/short term, qualitative/quantitative, process/outcome, internal/external. These pairs make sure that, in the words of Grove, “both effect and counter-effect are measured.” ([Location 1197](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B0939T8ZS8&location=1197)) > If you only have a fifty-fifty shot of making this goal, it’s probably the right level of stretch. ([Location 1239](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B0939T8ZS8&location=1239)) > Every number has a story to tell, and that story is your Objective. Once you have your Objective, you can ask yourself if there are other good metrics to watch. ([Location 1254](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B0939T8ZS8&location=1254))