Radical Focus

You need a system to keep you — and your team— aimed at your goal when the world seems determined to throw shiny objects at you. 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

Set only one OKR for the company, unless you have multiple business lines. It’s about focus. Give yourself three 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 inspirational.

“Hang on. Here, in the lower right, we put health metrics. These are things we want to protect while we shoot for the

And you ask, are we closer or farther from making these Results? We used a confidence rating at S.O.S. We’d start the quarter with each Key Results at five out of ten.” “Fifty percent confidence? A 50/50 shot at making it?” asked Hanna. “Exactly. Goals aren’t divided into regular and stretch goals. They’re all stretch goals. And they need to be har

Three: We don’t have a plan to get things done.

Jim asked, “How will you know you have succeeded?”

To make one, start with this simple formula: We [reduce pain/improve life] in [market] by [value proposition].

“Here in the upper left, we’ll list the top three things we’re doing this week to meet the Objective. We will mark them with the priority, P1 for must do, P2 for should do.

this simple formula: We [reduce pain/improve life] in [market] by

Each Monday, the team should meet to check in on progress against OKRs, and commit to the tasks that will help the company meet its Objective. I recommend a format with four key quadrants: Intention for the week: What are the 3-4 most important things you must get done this week toward the Objective? Discuss if these priorities will get you closer