Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs
Written by John Doerr
Narrated by John Doerr
4.5/5
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Currently unavailable
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About this audiobook
Legendary venture capitalist John Doerr reveals how the goal-setting system of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) has helped tech giants from Intel to Google achieve explosive growth—and how it can help any organization thrive.
In the fall of 1999, John Doerr met with the founders of a start-up whom he'd just given $12.5 million, the biggest investment of his career. Larry Page and Sergey Brin had amazing technology, entrepreneurial energy, and sky-high ambitions, but no real business plan. For Google to change the world (or even to survive), Page and Brin had to learn how to make tough choices on priorities while keeping their team on track. They'd have to know when to pull the plug on losing propositions, to fail fast. And they needed timely, relevant data to track their progress—to measure what mattered.
Doerr taught them about a proven approach to operating excellence: Objectives and Key Results. He had first discovered OKRs in the 1970s as an engineer at Intel, where the legendary Andy Grove ("the greatest manager of his or any era") drove the best-run company Doerr had ever seen. Later, as a venture capitalist, Doerr shared Grove's brainchild with more than fifty companies. Wherever the process was faithfully practiced, it worked.
In this goal-setting system, objectives define what we seek to achieve; key results are how those top-priority goals will be attained with specific, measurable actions within a set time frame. Everyone's goals, from entry level to CEO, are transparent to the entire organization.
The benefits are profound. OKRs surface an organization's most important work. They focus effort and foster coordination. They keep employees on track. They link objectives across silos to unify and strengthen the entire company. Along the way, OKRs enhance workplace satisfaction and boost retention.
In Measure What Matters, Doerr shares a broad range of first-person, behind-the-scenes case studies, with narrators including Bono and Bill Gates, to demonstrate the focus, agility, and explosive growth that OKRs have spurred at so many great organizations. This book will help a new generation of leaders capture the same magic.
Read by John Doerr, William Davidow, Brett Kopf, Jini Kim, Mike Lee, Atticus Tysen, Patti Stonesifer, Susan Wojcicki, Cristos Goodrow, Julia Collins, Alex Garden, Joseph Suzuki, Andrew Cole, Bono, and others
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Reviews for Measure What Matters
198 ratings15 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Specifically read to get a better idea of how OKRs have helped other companies. I definitely came away with a greater understanding, and hope to apply it to my own OKRs for the upcoming quarter. Beyond that, there's not much inspiration, although I did enjoy the testimonials far more than the other parts of the book.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In my opinion, John is probably the most useful, brilliant, and insightful thought leader in the field of goal achievement. I have been in tech business for a long time. I also have reviewed most if not all goal setting approaches. This is my absolute favorite; and most result getting approach. Not to mention, if it worked for Google, why would it not work for me? I highly recommend this book for all leaders.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great book, really practical suggestion grounded in years of experiance.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Superb...a must read for every manager and leader...Read now
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good book. I felt part of it was contradicting and subjective, but I suppose OKRs are more of a framework than a formula.
So the examples are good to learn from but not replicate. For instance, one suggestion is to have company, team & personal contributor OKRs, however the book warns that nested OKRs may result in misdirected lower level OKRs that don’t work towards the company level OKRs.
So it can start sounding like pie in the sky if you are looking for precise answers. Instead use this book as a guiding principle to keep a check on what you work on and more importantly, educate & sell your company workforce on “Why” the company exists, what the mission and vision is and why they are critical to the success of the firm.
I recommend reading Simon Sinek’s book on “Understanding your Why”
But anyway, great book on OKRs. Good book overall.
I recommend reading it if your company employs OKRs or your needing to create a North Star at your company. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Super! Me encanto el libro muy educativo. Me ayuda mucho para mi negocio
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5There is value in the book, however many very vague talks which makes it more philosophical than practical to me.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great examples of successful use of OKR’s help make this real!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Clear and well structured. Many practical examples of how to apply a goal-setting system to organize companies. It is the kind of book that I like to follow in audio format.
Probably best suited for big companies. All the examples refer to that kind of organizations. Despite that, I am a solopreneur, and I could also learn a lot. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This book provides a good, solid explanation around the use of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) for the modern knowledge worker to drive high performance and accountability. The real-world case studies used as examples really resonated with me.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5essential read for any manager or entrepreneur. I thought watching a video and reading a blog or two on OKR's was sufficient but the ROI on this book is well worth the time taken to listen to it.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5With proof points from Intel, Google, MapMyFitness, YouTube, Coursera and the ONE Campaign, it's surprising the OKR methodology doesn't have a stronger following. Maybe we're too scattered with multiple objectives further impeded by the superficiality of email and social media. Alternatively, it might be that most leaders think they have focused, crisp objectives. By the standards of Measure What Matters, they don't. OKRs create a hyperfocus on the most important things to do next. I appreciate how well this book describes the underpinnings of the concept and then illustrates multiple applications across companies and decades. This book is a definite read, and once exposed, I don't know how an intentional leader could resist at least trying the approach.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A must read for all entrepreneurs, organizations, executives, and professionals. This book has been very insightful and definitely helped us define our goals at the start of our product & company launch. We aspire to continue using this progress. It's certainly not a silver bullet to all problems but definitely a powerful arrow in your management quiver!
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5there have been 2 books that have changed my life, The Leader in You by Dale Carnegie and Associates, and this one. John breaks down the magic algorithm to top Fortune 500 companies (and honestly the top 10 as well). In a non traditional way, John explains his teachings to you, the listener, and uses his associates and friends back stories to provide life. The aha moments and I get it now times make this book a necessity for anyone who wishes to increase and grow their professional careers and personal lives.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A good book that has some great ideas. OKR's (Objectives with Key Results) have a wide application - they can be used in various business situations (which is the book's focus), personal development, family interaction, and other social and political applications. I found that the presentation was decent, but at times I wanted more detail. I think that the appendix items are the most useful, as they show the ideas being applied (there is a example of how Google uses OKR's).