I blogged about my thoughts on Strategy Deployment and OKRs a few years ago. Since then, OKRs have continued to rise in popularity, and a common question is still about the relationship between OKRs and the X-Matrix.
The answer, I think, lies in recognising the difference between Strategic and SMART Objectives.
Strategic Objectives
Strategic Objectives enable choice. That is, they don’t describe what action to take, but are enabling constraints which guide people, and create a space within which to explore a range of possibilities.
SMART Objectives
SMART Objectives are (by definition) specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. It is the ‘specific’ nature which is particularly relevant here that differentiates from Strategic Objectives in that they are more precise about what action to take.
In other words, Strategic Objectives have some ambiguity, while SMART Objectives are more explicit.
OKRs and the X-Matrix
I have no strong opinion about whether good OKRs have Strategic or SMART Objectives. I’m not enough of an OKR expert, although a quick internet search and my instinct suggest that OKRs should be more strategic.
However, I do think it’s important to understand the differences and what the implications are.
- If your OKRs are more Strategic, then what is the specific work you are going to do? What experiments will you run? What initiatives will deliver the strategy? That is, what are your Tactics?
- If your OKRs are more specific (SMART), then why have you chosen them? Why are they important? What are the guiding policies behind them? That is, what are your Strategies?
Thus, when considering the relationship between OKRs and the X-Matrix, the first step is to decide the nature of your objectives. If they are Strategic, then they form the X-Matrix Strategies, and if they are SMART, then they form the X-Matrix Tactics. And the next step is to work out what goes in the other section as appropriate.
This makes a couple of assumptions. Firstly, that you have some Aspirations behind your OKRs. I have seen OKRS which are effectively Aspirations themselves. For example, OKRs for meeting the annual financial goals. Secondly, that regardless of whether the OKRs are Strategic or SMART, the Key Results are the Evidence of progress towards the Objectives.
Hi Karl, I sort of want to add another paragraph! Create your OKRs from your X-Matrix and you know already that it all adds up to something meaningful. You (or different groups) could create multiple OKRs from the same source and you know that they will be coherent. Of course you don’t always have that luxury, in which case test your thinking by working backwards as you describe.