Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are critical to the success of a product focused organization. It is by these means that we measure success and know whether or not we are doing the right things.

 OKRs align teams with the larger corporate strategy, they should give the teams autonomy in execution because they are only specifying where to go and how to measure whether or not we get there, not how we get there. That should be left to the team keep them aligned but free to innovate and execute to the best of their ability.

 Objectives are big and bold and inspiring, key results (often KPIs) are the details of how well we are implementing those objectives. They should be specific and truly measurable. They should be short term measurements to allow for course correction. They should be created by the teams in conjunction with leadership and the team should be truly able to own those metrics because they do not need to rely on anyone else to affect them for good or ill.

 Creating good or great OKRs and KPIs is hard work but worth the effort. They are simple in concept and difficult in execution. There is an art and a science to them which is well worth researching, perhaps I will blog about this in the future.

 I do not know of a better way to measure the success of a product organization. I believe that OKRs and KPIs will become the industry standard over time. Start learning about them and using them now and you will see the benefits for yourself.