The most downloaded show on CFO Bookshelf is our 2020 interview view Ben Lamorte on OKRs. It was Ben who introduced me to Christina Wodtke’s work on OKRs years ago which included her great presentation entitled, Executioner’s Tale and her book Radical Focus. Christina recently released the 2nd edition of Radical Focus, our topic on this episode of CFO Bookshelf.
Episode Highlights
The Dream Job
- Teaching at Stanford University
- Geniuses are not terrible people or jerks
- Showing up to lunch each day is a learning experience
John Doerr’s Book, Measure What Matters
- Mark’s take – didn’t like it
- Not a book for OKRs execution
- Christina does not recommend some of the book’s examples
- Don’t turn OKRs into tasks
- Read Felipe Castro’s review of the book
- Christina still considers it an inspiring read
When Not to Implement OKRs
- When leaders don’t trust their workers
- When psychological safety is missing
- When confused with other effective management activities such as lean testing and agile
The way I approach OKRs is that they are a tool for organizational learning. And to be honest, the learning organization is the winning organization, period.
Christina Wodtke
The Fable in Radical Focus
- Idea came from start-up she was advising
- Hannah based on some of the best students she has ever mentored
- Team Raphaels now exist
Not Just for Startups
- Radical Focus patterned off The Lean Startup
- Bigger companies sought out Christina for guidance
- That lead to the second edition of Radical Focus
- Too easy for big companies to get OKRs wrong
- Not to control behavior
- Start with slowly with pilots – not for individuals or service/support functions in a business
Why Do Big Companies Like OKRs?
- They don’t always know what they want
- They want things to be better and believe OKRs can help
- They want to shift from reporting and tracking to goals and learning
What about Software?
- Should be the last thing you buy
- How about Trello?
- Put off purchasing software until you know how to implement OKRs – that way, you’ll know the system you need
- Find software with dashboards
Goal Achievement
- Goals need to be hard
- Make sure you don’t destroy morale
- Friday celebrations are important
- 50/50 is an intense goal
- As you gain knowledge about your team, you can start learning proper stretches
- All goals should be simpler and fewer – they remain sticky in your head
How Many Objectives per Quarter?
- Just one objective
- 3-5 goals
- Biggest OKRs mistake – used for everything
- Best use of OKRs – important but not urgent initiatives
- OKRs and the BCG Matrix
Meetings Cadence
- Temporal landmarks
- Mondays – moving out of rest period – what will happen
- Fridays – about getting to the weekend – celebrate
On Not Giving Up
One of my life mottos is to make new mistakes. If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not living, you’re not innovating, and you’re not trying. However, if you’re making the same mistake over and over again, you’re not learning. Do not give up.
Christina Wodtke
Books
During this episode, we learned that Christina is a reader. She reads some 85 to 120 books per year. At the end of every show, we ask guests what their favorite titles are. Christina mentioned she loved the Murderbot Diaries. In non-fiction, she loves The Fearless Organization and Teaming where there’s no filler and plenty of anecdotes. Christina’s big 3 for any entrepreneur include the following:
Christina Wodtke’s Books
The Fictitious Tea Company
In case you are wondering about the title photo with Christina, the cup of tea is tip of the cap to the fictitious tea supply company that Hannah was trying to save.
If you liked this show, then consider the following episodes –
- OKRs with Ben Lamorte – this is our most downloaded show. I could listen to Ben speak all day – he’s that good.
- An OKRs Doubleheader – this was a show including both Ben and Christina. At the time, I had no idea she was working on the second edition of Radical Focus.
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