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.
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OKR vs KPI: Understanding the Key Differences
Curious about the difference between OKRs and KPIs? This post explains how each measurement approach works, when to use them, and why keeping your metrics clear can lead to better business results. Learn how OKRs and KPIs can work together to help you focus on both tracking performance and driving real improvement.
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.
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.
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.
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.