EXECUTIVE BOOK

SUMMARY
of

by Zorian Rotenberg
& Tom Youngerman
Executive Book Summary of
“Measure What Matters:
How Google, Bono,
and the Gates Foundation
Rock the World with OKRs”

by John Doerr
BOOK AND ITS IMAGE ON THE FRONT COVER OF THIS SUMMARY:

The book shown on the front cover is “Measure What Matters: How Google,
Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs” by John Doerr;
Publisher: Portfolio/Penguin, April 2018; Copyright © 2018 by Bennett Group, LLC.
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THIS SUMMARY:

Executive Book Summary is by Zorian Rotenberg & Tom Youngerman.

Published by Atiim, Inc., 25 First Street, Cambridge, MA 02141 USA.

Copyright © 2019 Atiim Inc. All rights reserved.

DISCLAIMER:

This is an unofficial summary guide of “Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono,
and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs”, by John Doerr. This summary
is in no way associated, endorsed or affiliated with the original book by John Doerr
or the publishers. And this summary is not intended to replace the original work.
It is intended for informational purposes only.

The content of this work is subject to the intellectual property rights of John Doerr
and Penguin Random House, LLC. It is the reader’s responsibility to ensure that your
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The authors and publisher have used good faith efforts to ensure the accuracy
of information contained in this Book Summary. Use of or reliance upon this work
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If you enjoyed this short summary, we encourage you to buy the original book.
Contents
The Summary in Brief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

What You’ll Learn in this Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Summary of Measure What Matters Part One – OKRs in Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Chapter 1 – Google, Meet OKRs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Chapter 2 – The Father of OKRs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Chapter 3 – Operation Crush, An Intel Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Chapter 4 – Superpower #1: Focus and Commit to Priorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Chapter 5 – Focus: The Remind Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Chapter 6 – Commit: the Nuna Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Chapter 7 – Superpower #2: Align and Connect for Teamwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Chapter 8 – Align: The MyFitnessPal Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Chapter 9 – Connect: The Intuit Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Chapter 10 – Superpower #3: Track for Accountability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Chapter 11 – Track: The Gates Foundation Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Chapter 12 – Superpower #4: Stretch for Amazing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Chapter 13 – Stretch: The Google Chrome Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Chapter 14 – Stretch: The YouTube Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Summary of Measure What Matters Part Two – The New World of Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Chapter 15 – Continuous Performance Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Chapter 16 – Ditching Annual Performance Reviews: The Adobe Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Chapter 17 – Baking Better Everyday: The Zume Pizza Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Chapter 18 – Culture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Chapter 19 – Culture Change: The Lumeris Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Chapter 20 – Culture Change: Bono’s ONE Campaign Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Chapter 21 – The Goals to Come . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
The Summary in Brief
The book features an excellent Forward from Larry Page, co-founder of Google. Page,
who recommends you, “Take OKRs as a blueprint, and make them yours,” continues
to use OKRs to this day, some two decades after his introduction.

In Part One: OKRs in Action, Doerr details the history of OKRs. From their precursor,
Peter Drucker’s Management by Objectives, through his initial exposure to the methodology
at the hands of the OKR master, Andy Grove at Intel, to his introduction of the process
to Google, The Gates Foundation, and a myriad of other high-performing companies.

“Measure What Matters” defines OKRs and their benefits through a series of first-person
experiences from industry leaders such as; Larry Page, Bill Gates, Bill Campbell, and
others. There are case studies from an array of well-known companies such as Intuit,
MyFitnessPal, and Adobe. The stories relate how OKRs’ and their four “Superpowers”
of focus, alignment, track, and stretch, contribute to their company’s successes.

Part Two: “The New World of Work”, introduces CFRs (Conversations, Feedback,
and Recognition) with a focus on Human Resources, corporate culture, and core values.
Doerr describes CFRs as giving OKRs their human voice. He continues illustrating the
benefits of OKRs and CFRs through case studies focused on things such as replacing an
outmoded Annual Performance Review, teamwork and leadership, and adapting corporate
culture to the OKR methodology. Part Two concludes with a story of how Bono executes
OKRs in his One Foundation to save lives in Africa.

After a stirring tribute to Bill Campbell in the Dedication, the book concludes with several
Resource Sections, again illustrating how companies utilize OKRs to achieve 10X results.

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 1

What You’ll Learn in this Summary:
• How Andy Groves created the OKR methodology, an adaptation
of Peter Drucker’s Management by Objectives.

• How OKRs were first introduced to Google in 1999, and how

they are still in use seventy-five business quarters later.

• The Definition of OKRs today, the simple goal-setting methodology.

• The four Superpowers of OKRs.

• How OKRs and CFRs work together in the new way we work.

• How OKRs can change the very culture of your company.

• And, much more.

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 2

Summary of Measure What Matters Part One –
OKRs in Action

Chapter 1 – Google, Meet OKRs

“If you don’t know where you’re going,
you might not get there.”
— Yogi Berra

John Doerr tells the story of his initial meeting with the Google leadership team to present
OKRs, Objectives and Key Results. In attendance were Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the
founders, and about thirty other members, constituting a majority of their initial staff.

Doerr promised three things that day:

1. He would finish his presentation precisely at ninety minutes, and he did,

2. That together they would create the first set of google quarterly OKRs, which
they did, and

3. That he would gain management’s endorsement of the system, once again

he succeeded.

Doerr’s first PowerPoint slide defined OKRs, “A management methodology that helps to
ensure that the company focuses efforts on the same important issues throughout the
organization.”

An OBJECTIVE, he explained, is simply WHAT is to be achieved, no more and no less.

By definition, objectives are significant, concrete, action-oriented, and (ideally) inspirational.
When properly designed and deployed, they’re a vaccine against fuzzy thinking — and fuzzy
execution.

KEY RESULTS benchmark and monitor HOW we get to the objective. Effective KRs are
specific and time-bound, aggressive yet realistic. Most of all, they are measurable and
verifiable.

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 3

At the ninety-minute mark, Doerr summarizes with, “OKRs surface your primary goals.
They channel efforts and coordination. They link diverse operations, lending purpose and
unity to the entire organization.”

As Doerr relates in his book, Brin’s initial response was not exactly a ringing endorsement
of the methodology. “Well, we need to have some organizing principle. We don’t have one,
and this might as well be it.”

In October 2018, for the seventy-fifth consecutive business quarter, Google management
will review their performance against OKRs.

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 4

Chapter 2 – The Father of OKRs

“Ideas are easy, execution is everything.”

— John Doerr

In the summer of 1975, between semesters at Harvard Business School, Doerr secures
an internship at Intel where he meets Andy Grove. It would be another twelve years before
Grove became CEO of Intel; however, he was the recognized leader of management
philosophy at the company.

During a presentation of Intel strategy and operations, Doerr is first exposed to Dr. Grove’s
teachings. His key takeaway, “to claim that knowledge was secondary and execution
all-important — well, I wouldn’t learn that at Harvard. I found the proposition thrilling,
a real-world affirmation of accomplishment over credentials.”

This was also Doerr’s first exposure to OKRs (Objectives and Key Results). Groves
explained them in this way,

“Now, the two key phrases . . . are objectives and the key result. And they match the
two purposes. The objective is the direction: “We want to dominate the mid-range
microcomputer component business.” That’s an objective. That’s where we’re going to go.

Key results for this quarter: “Win ten new designs for the 8085” is one key result.
It’s a milestone. The two are not the same. . . . The key result has to be measurable.
But at the end you can look, and without any arguments: Did I do that, or did I not do
it? Yes? No? Simple.”

Objectives and Key Results, Yes? No? Simple? A simple methodology that helps to ensure
the entire organization is focused against the company’s most important goals. Yes? No?
Simple.

OKRs – Definition
Objectives (Os)

• Simply WHAT is to be achieved

• Significant, concrete and action oriented

• They are a vaccine against fuzzy thinking

• The objective is the direction

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 5

Key Results (KRs)

• They benchmark and monitor HOW we get to the objective

• KR should be succinct, specific, and measurable

• The KRs typically include hard numbers

Groves first began development of a formal goal setting protocol back in 1971, when
Intel was in its infancy. Groves did not truly “create” OKRs, rather he “adapted” the
methodology from Peter Drucker’s Management by Objectives ideology. There were
several key principles in Drucker’s The Practice of Management, which inspired Groves:

• Drucker articulated a system of long and short-range planning,

• with frequent progress reviews,

• and with input from the individual.

From Drucker’s teachings, Groves derived two key phrases to support his adaptation,
Objectives and Key Results, OKRs. Objectives answer the “What” is to be accomplished,
and Key Results answers “How”. Think of the Key Result as a milestone or KPI. This was
the genesis of OKRs, what Groves initially referred to as iMBOs, (Intel MBOs), later termed
OKRs, by Doerr.

Andy Grove’s Basic OKR Hygiene

• Less is more

• Set goals from the bottom up

• No dictating

• Stay flexible

• Dare to fail

• A tool, not a weapon

• Be patient; be resolute

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 6

Groves’ motivation for creating OKRs were two-fold:

1. OKRs are a simple yet powerful concept, ideal for use with the engineering
staff at Intel.

2. OKRs are superb at establishing the most critical goals of the organization,
aligning the workforce with these goals, and, monitoring performance.
Thus, creating an environment of achievement.

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 7

Chapter 3 – Operation Crush, An Intel Story

In this Chapter Doerr relates how Intel’s fight for survival in the face of a major
competitive assault is enabled by the OKR system.

“Led by Andy Grove, top management rebooted the company’s priorities in four weeks.
OKRs allowed Intel to execute its battle plan with clarity, precision, and lightning speed.
The entire workforce shifted gears to focus together on one prodigious goal.”

Back in 1979 Intel’s field sales team alerted leadership that their dominant position
in microprocessors was being eroded by competitor’s products that were faster and
easier to program. Doerr relates how Intel management strategized and mobilized to
meet the challenge, using OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) as their implementation
methodology:

1. Although sales surfaced the issue, Intel’s response required the Focus and
commitment of the executive staff, marketing, and the sales department.
Each discipline had a singular Focus on executing their roles in support of the
corporate objectives.

2. Crafting the response required collaboration and Alignment. As an example,

new collateral materials were needed from the marketing department, and new
PowerPoint presentations were required from sales.

3. Specific targets or KPIs were set for each function. These were aggressive,
aspirational Key Results. Execution against the Key Results required frequent
“check-ins”. Every crucial meeting led off with OKRs, to Track and Monitor
results in real time.

4. The entire organization was Stretched. The Objectives and Key Results were
“moonshots” and the timeline unbelievably compressed.

Bill Davidow, head of Intel’s microcomputer business, was “volunteered” by Grove to lead
this operation. In the process, Davidow crafted the following critical connective tissue for
OKRs, the phrase “as measured by.”

“We will achieve a certain OBJECTIVE as measured by the following KEY RESULTS.”
A.M.B. (as measured by) made the implicit explicit to all.

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 8

We Want to:

• {Objective}

as measured by this set of KRs:

• {1. Key Result}

• {2. Key Result}

• {3. Key Result}

Focus, Alignment, Tracking and Stretch, four benefits of the OKR system, provided the
infrastructure for Intel to return to its rightful, dominant market position.

“Bad companies,” Andy wrote, “are destroyed by crisis. Good companies survive them.
Great companies are improved by them.”

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 9

Chapter 4 – Superpower #1: Focus and Commit to Priorities

Regardless of the size of your company or its life-stage, setting organization level
priorities is difficult. The OKR (Objectives and Key Results) methodology with its more
frequent cadence, objectives are typically set quarterly, can help guide you:

• What inspires and informs your Objectives

• How to transition from longer-term, top-down driven goals,

• How to focus on those few key initiatives that make a significant difference
in performance

In this chapter, Doerr recognizes the dilemma of setting OKRs as you adopt the protocol.
He suggests senior management reflect on the following,

“What is the most important thing we can do for the next three months, (or six, or
twelve) that can truly make a difference.”

Best practices dictate that you allow your Mission and Vision Statements to inform your
selection of initial OKRs.

Vision statements and annual plans are forward-looking and crucial to your business.
OKRs force you to focus these into quarterly Objectives. What is it that must happen
in the next quarter, that is imperative to realizing your annual plan and vision? These
quarterly Objectives direct the work which must be done to ensure continued progress
to your ultimate goals.

The OKR process dictates that you limit quarterly Objectives to a handful of carefully
curated goals. OKRs are not meant to be a laundry list of tasks. To quote Steve Jobs,
“Focus means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are.” Most of all
leadership cannot confuse activity with accomplishment.

“For organization-level OKRs, the buck stops with senior leadership. They must
personally commit to the process. Leaders must get across the why as well as the
what. Their people need more than milestones for motivation. They are thirsting for
meaning, to understand how their goals relate to the mission.”

The OKR protocol helps you determine what your Objectives should look like,
the frequency of goal setting, and the number of goals to be addressed. It can be
a bit daunting at first, but over time you and your team will continue to improve.

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 10

Chapter 5 – Focus: The Remind Story

OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) compel senior management to identify those
imperatives which will drive superior performance in their company. By the nature
of their quarterly cadence of Objective setting, they force management to prioritize.
The protocol demands that senior management focuses on that which is most important.
And, the methodology provides the platform to communicate Objectives so that the entire
organization is focused on what really matters.

In Chapter 5 Doerr relates the story of Remind, an app developed by Brett Kopf, to enable
teachers and students to communicate via text in a safe and secure environment. In 2012
Brett and his brother David are in scale-up mode and desperately need a system to enable
greater focus enterprise-wide.

A common mistake of many companies as they implement OKRs is setting too many
quarterly Objectives. This can blur Focus and create confusion. It’s management’s role
to identify the three to five significant corporate goals that will make a difference, to
communicate these goals to the organization, and to Focus everyone’s efforts towards
their achievement.

Doerr quotes Andy Groves of Intel, the Father of OKRs, “If we try to Focus on everything,
we Focus on nothing.”

Especially in a start-up, or scaling business focus is essential. In these situations,

resources are limited, and the “to do” list is never-ending. However, to reach the next
level, there is a finite list of “must do” items that will truly move the needle. These are the
quarterly Objectives that are identified and communicated in the OKR model. They inform
the organization of what each individual must focus on that period.

OKRs are an exquisitely simple, yet powerful management tool. They prioritize and then
demand focus.

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 11

Chapter 6 – Commit: the Nuna Story

Alongside focus, commitment is a critical element of OKRs first Superpower; Focus and Commit.

Many companies set and meet Objectives every day; introduce a new product, meet
your sales budget, generate the targeted number of users. But, are these inspiring your
organization? Are they necessary to achieve 10X results? Probably not. Successful OKRs
start with the Why? A clear and compelling vision of an aspirational, even audacious goal
is required.

Chapter 6 relates the story of Nuna’s founder, Jini Kim. Her “Why” was very personal,
her goal a true moonshot, achievement required a herculean corporate-wide effort. Her
personal Commitment to the Objective, illustrated daily to her organization via OKRs,
ensured its success.

Doerr provides several other examples of organizations achieving great things due
to leadership’s Commitment to aspirational Objectives and the OKR process. In each
instance, whether it be “to organize the world’s information and make it universally
accessible,” or “debt relief to the poorest countries in the world,” or “to build the world’s
best browser,” it took total Commitment to the cause and the OKR process by leadership.

The key insight from these examples is that until senior leadership Commits to the OKR
process, and the organization’s Objectives, you cannot expect success. And, the more
aspirational the Objective, the more critical leadership’s Commitment.

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 12

Chapter 7 – Superpower #2: Align and Connect for Teamwork

“We don’t hire smart people to tell them what to do.

We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.”
— Steve Jobs

One of the most sought benefits of implementing an OKR strategy is corporate alignment.
Getting the entire organization focused on the company’s most crucial Objectives is key
to employee engagement and ultimately success in the market. Studies suggest that only
seven percent of employees genuinely understand their company’s strategies, and, what’s
expected of them to help reach these corporate objectives. What is the connective tissue
that enables this alignment? OKRs, (Objectives and Key Results) can provide the linkage
and visibility to create true alignment in any organization.

In this chapter, Doerr uses a football team analogy to illustrate why connecting Objectives
is a blend of top-down and bottom-up planning.

Setting successful OKRs requires a balance of cascading Objectives and Key Results
down through the organization, and input from employees into their personal Objectives.
(With the important caveat that personal Objectives must be in support of, connected
to, the company’s top priorities). The top-down cascading connects everyone in the
organization, creating alignment; and the bottom-up planning gives individuals a greater
sense of ownership, creating engagement.

Doerr quotes an exasperated CEO who states,

“At any given time, some significant percentage of our people are working on the
wrong thing. The challenge is knowing which ones!”

In an OKR environment, everyone’s Objectives and Key Results are visible and openly
shared, including the CEO’s. This transparency fosters collaboration, identifies
inter-department dependencies, and eliminates redundancies, as each team and
individual are aligned on the same ultimate objectives.

OKR software platforms are designed with connectivity in mind. Leadership develops
corporate Objectives. Senior management’s Objectives become management’s Key
Results. And management’s Objectives become the Key Results of teams and individuals.
And individuals, knowing the corporate objectives provide input as to how their Objectives
will support the company’s priorities.

When implemented correctly OKRs enable the connectivity, which creates the alignment,
which drives engagement, and results in superior performance.

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 13

Chapter 8 – Align: The MyFitnessPal Story

Alignment is all about explaining to the workforce precisely what you want them to do,
and what they should be doing to move the enterprise forward. Your workforce is your
greatest resource, and quite likely your single largest expense line.

Chapter 8 follows the acquisition of MyFitnessPal by Under Armor, and the challenges
of alignment post-acquisition. Forward-looking organizations everywhere are researching
OKR (Objectives and Key Results) to gain a competitive edge in strategy execution. OKRs
have given us a new language for discussing goal management. We now speak of agility,
cascading, collaboration, check-ins, feedback, and bi-directional communication.
And, a key benefit not to be overlooked or forgotten, alignment.

CEOs consider alignment one of their most significant challenges, and greatest
opportunities, if executed properly to improve employee morale and engagement.
The MyFitnessPal story showcases some of the best practices in gaining alignment
through the OKR protocol, such as cascading and transparency.

In an OKR environment, goals are cascaded down through the organization, reminiscent
of Peter Drucker’s MBOs. However, OKRs also feature input by the individual into their
personal Objectives and Key Results, always in support of achieving the company’s
overarching goals.

This bi-directional input has key benefits:

1. Often input from the individual provides management with a new perspective
or identifies roadblocks to the achievement of Objectives, or Key Results.

2. The practice instills a sense of ownership of the individual’s OKRs,

a greater sense of commitment, and improves employee engagement.

Another feature of the OKR protocol is transparency throughout the organization of each
employee’s Objectives and Key Results. This shared 360° view of the company also has
significant benefits:

1. It graphically illustrates how the individual’s role supports the company’s larger
Objectives.

2. It encourages collaboration with other teams and other team members.

3. It identifies cross-dependencies and eliminates duplication of effort.

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 14

An aligned, fully engaged, and highly motivated organization is key to retention and
generating greater profitability.

Each time MyFitnessPal went through the OKR process, they did a little better.
Their objectives got more precise, key results more measurable, and their achievement
rate higher.

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 15

Chapter 9 – Connect: The Intuit Story

Intuit has made Fortunes’ “Most Admired Companies” List for fourteen consecutive
years. In this chapter Doerr uses Intuit to show us how the OKR open platform provides
visibility, “People can’t connect with what they can’t see.”

One of the most important features of OKR software is visibility; everyone in the
organization can see the OKRs of everyone else, right up to and including the CEOs OKRs.
This transparency allows workers to see the links between their work, how it relates to
their colleague’s priorities, their team’s objectives, and the company’s overarching goals.

Dependencies between teams are identified, silos become a thing of the past,
redundancies are reduced, and collaboration increases, all due to the connectivity
brought about this OKR transparency.

The Intuit story introduces a new topic, that of the remote worker, people who work
outside of the corporate headquarters. Pre-OKRs, those remote employees might ask,
what gets done at corporate, and, corporate may be wondering the same about them.
At Intuit, OKRs eliminated these questions and made for a much more connected and
cohesive team, both at HQs and in the field.

Given the extent to which the way we work is evolving, and global businesses, OKRs are
critical for greater connectivity and collaboration.

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 16

Chapter 10 – Superpower #3: Track for Accountability

Gone are the days of MBOs and “set them and forget them”. The OKR methodology is
designed so that Objectives and their Key Results can be tracked, graded, adapted, and
improved upon over time. OKRs should be looked at as an opportunity for continuous
improvement in your goal-setting strategy. We learn and improve not merely from
experience, but from analyzing and reflecting on prior performance.

Chapter 10 is designed to show how you can improve execution through tracking and
grading. In short, it’s important to “Measure What Matters”.

Several times in the book Doerr defines OKRs:

“Objectives and Key Results, or OKRs, are a simple goal-setting system. The
Objectives are “What” we want to have accomplished, the Key Results are “How” I’m
going to get that done. Objectives, Key Results, What and How.”

This chapter focuses on the “How”, the Key Results. Good KRs need to be succinct,
measurable, and time-bound. Achievement of each KR assigned to an Objective has to
mean the Objective was achieved. A best practice introduced in this chapter is the OKR
Shepherd, whose role is to ensure participation and in to be the OKR owner for reporting
purposes.

In an OKR environment the “must do” is frequent check-ins, monitoring and tracking
performance. OKR software is designed so that progress against OKRs may be updated
weekly with results being visible to all. Given a quarterly cadence, performance to KRs
should accrue at about 10% per week. If results are lagging the KR is considered to be at risk.

When grading OKRs, there are four potential scenarios:

1. If tracking is on pace to achieve the KR it is considered green-lighted, continue

as you have been

2. Not tracking on pace - yellow lighted, its time to adapt, identify the roadblocks
and modify activities accordingly

3. OKRs are not static, if the situation dictates, create an additional KR to ensure
achievement of the Objective

4. If the KR is seriously at risk, perhaps its time to red light the initiative, and drop
the KR.

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 17

In the scoring process, you identify what you have achieved, and what you might do
differently next time. Regardless of the outcome, continuous tracking, grading, adapting,
and modifying will provide learnings to be used in subsequent quarters. And a continuous
improvement in execution is what organizations are seeking.

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 18

Chapter 11 – Track: The Gates Foundation Story

Companies new to OKRs all face initial challenges. Setting Objectives is easy; introduce a
new product, meet your sales goal, secure X number of new users. However, are these the
right goals? In this chapter Doerr uses the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to illustrate
several best practices in implementing an OKR methodology to drive superior execution.

The initial funding for the Gates Foundation was an astounding $20 billion. Gates’
question to the Foundation’s senior management, “How do you want to change the world.”
An incredible opportunity which also carried an awesome responsibility.

Setting the right Objectives. An aspirational Mission is not enough. To be successful, you
need definitive goals (Objectives) and a system to measure performance (Key Results).

Every Objective required a well-defined Key Result. Every grant considered by the
Foundation required a Mission, an Objective, and a logical way to measure success,
a metric, a Key Result.

Track and measure performance, in order to address the problems, adapt strategies
where necessary, discard those goals that were not productive and replace them with
new goals.

OKRs are not static, they are not set in stone, and they certainly aren’t set them and forget
them. The Gates Foundation was fanatical at tracking progress against their Objectives
and Key Results. The practice allowed them to be ambitious in their Objectives, yet
instilled discipline. Tracking and grading OKRs kept them on focus and provided forward
momentum. When a goal proved to be impractical or impossible capital was reallocated
to a more productive initiative.

With a Mission as ambitious as “vaccinating every child everywhere” you need a system to
set the Objective correctly, determine the correct metrics to be sure you measure the right
Key Results, and monitor, track, and grade performance.

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 19

Chapter 12 – Superpower #4: Stretch for Amazing

OKRs are not about everyday objectives, simple tasks, or “to do” lists. They help
organizations to leave their comfort zones, to be aspirational, to set Objectives that
lead to making a real difference. Theirs is a quest for the creation of fresh concepts
and disruptive business models. To quote Bill Campbell, “If companies don’t continue to
innovate, they’re going to die.”

In his book “Good to Great” Jim Collins introduces the BHAG concept, Big Hairy
Audacious Goals. These BHAGs, like OKRs, can be used to galvanize an organization
toward the achievement of a Stretch goal.

Doerr devotes a section of the chapter to Edwin Locke, the patriarch of formal goal
setting. Through his studies, Locke deduced that stretch goals were achieved less often
than more mundane goals. However, the level of performance of those teams pursuing a
stretch goal far outdistanced that of those pursuing easier goals. It seems stretch goals
elicit greater output.

We then revisit Google for a discussion of their Gospel of 10X. Larry Page contends that
modest goals will not get you to the mountaintop. He exhorts Googlers to set 10X goals,
to rethink problems, and explore what is physically and technically possible. As a result,
Google uses a grading system, knowing that attainment of aspirational goals at 60% -
70% of the objective will be the outcome.

If you’re achieving 100% of Objectives on a consistent basis, you’re not being aspirational
enough, you need to stretch. A solid lead-in to chapter 13.

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 20

Chapter 13 – Stretch: The Google Chrome Story

Doerr opens chapter 13 with a couple of wonderful quotes, “When you aim for the stars
you may come up short, but still reach the moon.” And from Larry Page of Google, “If you
set a crazy ambitious goal, and miss it, you’ll still achieve something remarkable.”

These quotes provide an appropriate lead-in to the Google Chrome Story, illustrating
the potential of stretching when using the OKR methodology. The Chrome story follows
Sundar Pichai, now Google’s third CEO, who’s career itself is a great example of stretch.
Sundar grew up in South India, and although his father was an electrical engineer his
family lived modestly and devoid of technology. The family did not have a phone, a rotary
phone at that, until Sundar was twelve years old. Today he presides over some sixty
thousand employees.

In 2008 Sundar took on an Objective, which was to build the next generation client platform
for the future of web applications. In other words, build the world’s best browser. He was very
thoughtful about how he chose his Key Results. How do you measure the best browser? It
could be ad clicks, or engagement, no, he said the number of users. Because users are going
to decide if Chrome is a great browser or not. So, he had this one, three-year-long Objective,
build the best browser. And then, every year he stuck to the same Key Results, numbers of
users, but, he upped the ante.

In the first year, his goal was twenty million users, and he missed it, he got less than ten.
In the second year, he raised the bar to fifty million, he got to thirty-seven million users.
Somewhat better. In the third year, he upped the ante once more, to one hundred million.
He launched an aggressive marketing campaign, broader distribution, improved the
technology, and kaboom. He got one hundred and eleven million users.

A great example of someone carefully choosing the right Objective, and then sticking to it,
year after year, after year.

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 21

Chapter 14 – Stretch: The YouTube Story

It’s only appropriate that Google, who has done so much to popularize OKRs and their
ability to enable stretch goals, be featured yet again. This chapter follows, Susan Wojcicki
and the YouTube story. Wojcicki was Google employee #16, and has been called by Time
magazine, “the most powerful woman on the internet.”

Even before becoming Google’s first Marketing Manager Susan was involved with the
company. In 1998, only days after Google was formed she rented out her Menlo Park
garage to serve as Google’s first offices!

Eight years later Wojcicki was a leading voice in convincing the Google board to acquire
YouTube. She was a visionary who perceived how online video would disrupt network
television. By 2012 YouTube was the world’s leader in video platforms. In 2014 when
appointed as the new CEO of YouTube, Wojcicki inherited a true 10X Google Objective,
to reach one billion hours of people watching video, per day.

The OKR methodology was deployed in pursuit of the Objective every step of the way.
The first step being to determine just how this audacious Key Result would be measured.
Watch time became the only metric, and the Objective was set for a four-year horizon,
with quarterly OKRS.

Today YouTube has scaled to more than one billion users, nearly a third of the people on
the internet. It’s available in some seventy languages in over eighty countries. The billion-
hour daily watch time “moonshot”, supported by leadership, owned by the YouTube team,
tracked and measured religiously was achieved in advance of its target date.

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 22

Summary of Measure What Matters Part Two –
The New World of Work
In Part two Doerr discusses a new, more mobile, more agile, less hierarchal workforce.
We begin to discuss new ways for HR to work. People operations, CFRS, and continuous
performance management make their introduction.

Chapter 15 – Continuous Performance Management

Doerr starts part two discussing Human Resources’ annual performance review. He
details the cost of the process, and the time allocated to conduct performance reviews,
7.5 hours per manager’s time per each direct report. He then drops a couple of startling
figures: only twelve percent of HR leaders consider the annual review “highly effective” in
driving business value, and only six percent consider it worth the time it takes!

Clearly, it’s time for a disruption in the people management model, something on the
order of OKRs in the planning process. That new system is continuous performance
management, through the execution of CFRs (Conversations, Feedback, and Recognition).

Conversations – exchanges between managers and employees with the goal of driving
performance.

Feedback – bidirectional feedback, similar to bottom-up goal setting in OKRs, to evaluate

progress and course correct for future efforts.

Recognition – expressing appreciation to individuals for their contributions.

Together the three components foster transparency, accountability, engagement, and

teamwork throughout the organization. To quote Doerr, “Together they capture the full
richness and power of Groves innovative method. They give OKRs their human voice.”

Ideally, OKRs and CFRs are reinforcing. The conversations and feedback relate to the
performance set in the OKR process, obviously.

Fortune 500 companies are adapting, ten percent have already abandoned the annual
review, and more are following suit.

Another key concept introduced in this chapter is the Amicable Divorce. Divorcing
compensation, both salary and bonus, from the OKR methodology. Doerr contends there
should be separate cadences for OKRs and compensation discussions.

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 23

Chapter 16 – Ditching Annual Performance Reviews:
The Adobe Story

What would it look like to “inspire, motivate, and value employee contributions more
effectively?” Doerr quotes Donna Morris of Adobe in chapter 16. This is the question she
posed on Adobe’s intranet. A company that devoted some eighty thousand manager
hours to an antiquated annual review process that accomplished nothing more than to
alienate employees and contribute to attrition.

Even as Adobe was migrating to a cloud-based, more modern business model their
Human Resource department continued to rely on the annual review. All of that changed
due to Ms. Morris’ question.

The answer, Check-Ins, marked Adobe’s conversion to a new continuous performance

management system. As workplace Conversations/Check-Ins become more prevalent
managers are evolving from taskmasters to teachers, coaches, and mentors.

Check-Ins featured three key talking points or areas of focus:

• Quarterly discussions regarding goal performance

• Feedback

• Career development discussions

Ongoing Conversations need to include the following critical topics for conversation
between manager and contributor:

• Goal setting and reflection

• Ongoing progress updates

• Coaching

• Career growth

• Lightweight performance reviews

The new system was more agile and lightweight. The sessions are decoupled from
compensation. Instead, managers are encouraged to base compensation on the
employee’s performance, their impact on the business, their skills, and market conditions.

Throughout the chapter, Doerr reviews Adobe’s implementation plan and recounts the
success of the transition. Today continuous performance management adheres to
Adobe’s founding principles of genuine, exceptional, innovative, and involved.

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 24

Chapter 17 – Baking Better Everyday: The Zume Pizza Story

Obviously, OKRs and CFRs work when executed in a structured, scaled business. In
chapter 17 Doerr introduces a market disruption, a start-up company that specializes
in roboticized, artisanal pizza, Zume Pizza. The Zume model is to relegate rote tasks to
robots, freeing up human capital to do those things that make a difference. The funds
saved on wages are used on superior ingredients.

Through the Zume story, Doerr illustrates how OKRs and CFRs can help develop better
leaders and help to recognize and identify talent. The two systems working together
create a great training tool for developing executives and management. More discipline,
better engagement, improved transparency, teamwork, and frequent conversations helped
to create the culture at Zume.

Today Zume is succeeding wildly through continuous performance management,

delivering world-class pizza at competitive prices, disrupting the pizza market in the Bay
Area, with plans to roll-out to the West Coast and nationally.

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 25

Chapter 18 – Culture
“You need a culture that high five’s small and innovative ideas.”
— Jeff Bezos

One of my favorite quotes from the book opens chapter 19, “Culture, as the saying goes,
eats strategy for breakfast.” It’s what makes meaning of work.

With the new way we work, and today’s workforce, culture is more crucial than ever.
People are basing their employment decisions on more than title and compensation, and,
culture is playing a major role.

Through OKRs and CFRs you can change the very culture of your business! OKRs are ideal
for creating alignment, engagement, and teamwork. CFRs help to ensure the message is
delivered. Combined they create the framework for goal setting and high performance.

Doerr revisits Andy Grove to review Intel’s culture and operating style. He then cites a
Google study related to standout performances. The key insight in both examples is that
collaboration and accountability lead to peak performance.

A new concept in the CFR realm is introduced, pulsing. Pulsing provides real-time
feedback through a series of questions posed to the staff to provide a snapshot of the
workplace culture. Pulsing helps to gauge the organization’s health.

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 26

Chapter 19 – Culture Change: The Lumeris Story

For anyone considering an OKR implementation chapter 19 is a “must read”.

The Lumeris business model is secondary. The story is a failed OKR implementation,
transformation, culture change, and relaunch of the methodology.

The initial OKR program at Lumeris sounded good, looked good, but was failing at
its most basic level. Yes, people were developing OKRs, yes, they were reporting on
performance, albeit, after the fact, and results were being reviewed by management.
However, when questioned as to how OKRs aligned with corporate objectives employees
were clueless.

Missing was buy-in from senior management, coupled with a cultural misfit and a
distrust of the system. Transformation doesn’t happen overnight. People watch what
management does more than listen to what they say.

Culture was addressed first. Several senior, autocratic executives were exited. Eighty-five
percent of the HR department was turned over, and significant changes were made in
middle management. Only then was OKR and CFR relaunched.

With better training, improved software, senior management buy-in, and an improved
culture, the OKR and CFR campaign is working.

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 27

Chapter 20 – Culture Change: Bono’s ONE Campaign Story

”Factivism”, fact-based activism is Bono’s passion. In 2004 Bono launched the ONE
Foundation, a non-partisan, grassroots, activist coalition. It’s a spin-off of his DATA (Debt,
AIDS, Trade, Africa) organization, funded by a Gates Foundation grant, which led to $100
billion in debt relief for the world’s poorest countries.

ONE is an analytical, hardheaded, results-oriented organization which embraced OKRs.

The methodology helps to determine the organization’s priorities, which can be difficult
when your goal is to change the world.

The chapter details the ONE Foundation’s use of OKRs and features a great segment on
the Pivot. In a meeting between Doerr and Bono the very structure, and culture, of the
board is revised to be more inclusive of those the Foundation is working for.

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 28

Chapter 21 – The Goals to Come

In this wrap-up chapter, Doerr discusses the many ways in which OKRs can be adapted
for use by varying organizations, teams, individuals.

Doerr chooses to think of OKRs as a “launch pad”, a point of lift-off for future
entrepreneurs. One of his personal passions is education, and he relates a story of
a Mountain View, California principal having each of his elementary school students
prepare their personal OKRs for learning, amazing stuff.

OKRs have enormous potential. They are adaptable to virtually any situation. As Larry
Page would say, “Take OKRs as a blueprint and make them yours.”

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 29

Summary

As Doerr discusses early in Chapter One, “OKRs are Swiss Army knives, suited to any
environment. We’ve seen their broadest adoption in tech, where agility and teamwork are
absolute imperatives”.

“At smaller start-ups, where people absolutely need to be pulling in the same direction,
OKRs are a survival tool. In the tech sector young companies must grow quickly to get
funding before their capital runs dry. Structured goals give backers a yardstick for success.”

“At medium-size, rapidly scaling organizations, OKRs are a shared language for execution.
They clarify expectations: What do we need to get done (and fast),
and who’s working on it? They keep employees aligned, vertically and horizontally.”

“In larger enterprises, OKRs are neon-lit road signs. They demolish silos and cultivate
connections among far-flung contributors. By enabling frontline autonomy, they give rise
to fresh solutions. And they keep even the most successful organizations stretching for more.”

Do you manage a company or teams (either as a CEO, a senior executive, a middle

manager or even a front-line manager)? Do you set and track objectives? Does aligning
employee performance to business goals matter, and are you responsible for driving
results? If so, please check out a live demo of Atiim OKR & Goals Management Software
and we’d love to hear what you think about it. Thank you!

Doerr, John. Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the
World with OKRs (p. 72). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

“Measure What Matters” Executive Book Summary 30

About Atiim
Atiim is an OKR goal-setting, tracking, and achievement platform for high-performance
teams & organizations.

In 2015 Atiim invented the industry-first 2-in-1 unified and integrated “OKR Goals
Management + Continuous Performance Management” software that combines two
products into one single SaaS platform. The goals platform developed by Atiim is rooted
in Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) and it helps high-performance companies and
teams set clear OKR goals, improve internal alignment, focus on what truly matters, and
ultimately achieve better results.

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