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Setting Direction With Numbers Attached

A goal-setting framework that separates the inspiring 'what' from the measurable 'how you'll know you got there.'

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An Objective without Key Results is a wish. Key Results without an Objective are a spreadsheet. OKRs force a team to write both in the same breath.

1OKRs vs. KPIs: Change vs. Steady State

A KPI (like 'monthly active users') tracks the health of business-as-usual — it runs continuously and rarely has a quarter-specific target. An OKR is temporary and deliberate: it exists to drive a specific strategic change this quarter, then usually gets replaced by a new one next quarter. Confusing the two leads teams to write OKRs for metrics they were already tracking passively, with no real stretch.

2Cap the List, or It Isn't a Priority

Teams that write eight Objectives in a quarter have written a backlog, not a strategy. Limiting a team to 3-5 Objectives, each with 2-4 Key Results, forces the hard conversation about what genuinely matters most — and gives everyone outside the team a fast way to see what's actually being worked on.

3Step-by-Step Breakdown

Introduction. An OKR has two parts: the Objective is a qualitative, ambitious statement of direction ('Make onboarding effortless'). The Key Results are 2-4 quantitative, verifiable outcomes that prove the objective was reached ('Cut time-to-first-value from 9 minutes to 3').

Key Results Are Outcomes, Not Tasks. 'Redesign the onboarding flow' is a task — it can be marked done without moving a single metric. 'Cut time-to-first-value from 9 minutes to 3' is an outcome — the team only gets credit if users are actually helped, regardless of which redesign gets them there.

Stretch Goals and the 70% Rule. OKRs are deliberately ambitious. A team that hits 100% of its Key Results every single quarter is very likely sandbagging its targets. Google's internal norm treats 60-70% average attainment as healthy — anything higher suggests the goals weren't a stretch at all.

Knowledge Check. A design team writes the Key Result 'Ship the new onboarding flow by March 1st.' What's wrong with it as a Key Result?

→It describes an output (a task getting done) rather than a measurable outcome the task is supposed to cause
→Nothing is wrong — it has a deadline, which is all a Key Result needs

Summary. Write the Objective as the inspiring destination, and each Key Result as a number that moves from a known baseline to a target by a known date. If a Key Result can be completed without changing any metric, it's a disguised task — rewrite it.

Pascual Vila

Frontend Instructor // Code Syllabus

Common Pitfalls & Errors

The Error //

Writing Key Results as a checklist of tasks

// Wrong
KR: Ship the new pricing page

// Correct
KR: Increase free-to-paid conversion from 3.1% to 5% by end of quarter

The Solution //

A Key Result that just says a task shipped can be marked 'done' even if it helped nobody. Rewrite it as the metric that task was supposed to move, with a before and after number.

The Error //

Setting Key Results the team is guaranteed to hit

// Sandbagged (always hits 100%)
KR: Maintain uptime above 99% (already at 99.9% today)

// Genuine stretch (targets real improvement)
KR: Reduce P1 incident count from 6/quarter to 2/quarter

The Solution //

If every Key Result lands at 100% every quarter, the targets were set too low to be a real stretch. Calibrate targets so 60-70% attainment is the expected, healthy outcome, and treat a miss on a stretch KR as information, not failure.