Welcome to the No-BS OKRs™ Blog

Here, you’ll find resources we create to help teams create, implement, and operationalize No-BS OKRs™ (called Evolutionary OKRs® in some workplaces) to set clear goals, stay focused, and build cultures of growth, learning, and high performance.

Featured No-BS OKRs Posts

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Principles of No-BS OKRs

Leadership + Management

All posts about Leadership & Management

Strategic Planning

All posts about Strategic Planning & Goals

OKR FAQs

All No-BS OKRs FAQs

OKR Coaching

All posts about OKR Coaching

Aligning Team OKRs: A Practical Guide for Real Organizational Focus
No-BS OKRs Sara Lobkovich No-BS OKRs Sara Lobkovich

Aligning Team OKRs: A Practical Guide for Real Organizational Focus

The #1 question organizations ask about OKRs? "How do we cascade them to every team and person?" After training 2,000+ OKR coaches across 300+ organizations, my answer is controversial: You don't. Traditional OKR cascading creates a "mathematical nightmare"—turning 4 company objectives into 100+ unmanageable goals. There's a better way: flexible localization that helps teams align through a simple 3-question framework without drowning in complexity. Learn why cascading fails, when teams need different goal tools, and how to implement team OKR alignment that actually works.

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How to Motivate Employees: What the Research Shows
Leadership Sara Lobkovich Leadership Sara Lobkovich

How to Motivate Employees: What the Research Shows

Too many leaders default to thinking they need to eliminate employee dissatisfaction to boost motivation. The truth? Removing dissatisfaction doesn't automatically create motivation. And the widely-held belief that stretch goals are "demotivating" if they're not achieved is not only wrong—it's actively harmful to employee engagement. Discover the three psychological needs from Self-Determination Theory that actually drive motivation, and a few practical frameworks you can use immediately—including the three questions that unlock employee engagement and a “Three-hat” leadership model for sustained motivation.

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OKR Best Practices: No-BS Strategies for Success
No-BS OKRs Sara Lobkovich No-BS OKRs Sara Lobkovich

OKR Best Practices: No-BS Strategies for Success

Many OKR implementations fail spectacularly. After training over 2,000 OKR coaches across 300+ organizations globally, I've seen the same chronic issues sink even well-intentioned goal-setting efforts: way too many objectives, activity-focused key results, and "rules for thee, not for me" approaches where senior leadership doesn't participate. This guide shares the battle-tested best practices from the No-BS OKRs methodology—proven strategies that separate high-performing organizations from those struggling with OKR confusion and overhead.

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How to overcome decision fatigue during uncertain times
Sara Lobkovich Sara Lobkovich

How to overcome decision fatigue during uncertain times

You know that moment when someone asks about your strategic plan and you think... "Which version? The one from Q4, the January revision, or the one we're about to scrap again?" If you've lost track of how many times you've had to pivot this year, you're not alone. Here's how to overcome decision fatigue when everything feels chaotic.

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The Podcast

Thinkydoers is where we shift out of our heads and whiteboard drawings and work to find language for our thought-work and stories.

Each episode tackles a question, a thought experiment, or a resource intended to help you reduce frustration and friction, and increase satisfaction and flow, in your work.

Courses & Community

Thinkydoers, frustrated change agents, overthinkers, and challengers of the status quo:

You’ve found your people.

Here you’ll find our library of free downloadable tools, results-focused online learning options, and other ways to connect through our communities. Draft Evolutionary OKRs Playbook