Ending Words - OKR Methodology Triumphs in the Second Half of the Internet Era #
As I write this conclusion, the first snowfall of 2020 has started falling outside in Beijing.
This year marks my 10th year working in Beijing. I still remember the scenes of flagging down taxis on the roadside and carrying a wallet with cash when I first arrived. At that time, calling home long-distance was the only way to let my family know I was safe.
Over the past 10 years, the internet has brought about earth-shattering changes to our lives. Companies like Didi, Tencent, Meituan, Alibaba, JD Logistics, ByteDance, and more have redefined the way people connect with information, products, and each other. The outbreak of COVID-19 at the beginning of 2020 has added even more uncertainty to this rapidly changing and ever-reconstructing world.
In this age of constant reconstruction and increasing uncertainty, many people are becoming more anxious. This anxiety often leads to impatience, especially within organizations. Many managers hope to effectively manage their organizations by introducing popular buzzwords or new concepts, but they fail to invest time and effort into honing their organization’s core capabilities.
However, it is these core capabilities that allow organizations to remain steadfast and move forward in a chaotic world. So, what are these core capabilities?
Finding the Invariable Amidst Change #
Although new concepts and methods constantly emerge within organizations, there are fundamental capabilities that remain unchanged.
First and foremost, regardless of the business or project, whether it is agile or waterfall delivery, there is always one starting point within an organization: goals.
With goals in place, regardless of who is responsible for achieving them or the methods used, we will ultimately achieve performance.
In the process from setting goals to achieving performance, there are several key variables that influence the attainment of performance. What are these variables?
Organizational goals are derived from strategy. The formulation of strategy brings about two types of changes: either it establishes growth targets based on existing businesses or it sets innovative goals based on new businesses. Thus, strategy and the resulting transformation impact the establishment of organizational goals.
After goals are set, the first thing that follows is the organizational structure, not people. Through the organizational structure, we assign responsibilities and powers for goal achievement to corresponding roles, and then distribute these roles among individuals through delegation.
The established organizational structure determines the division of hierarchical levels and functional responsibilities, which in turn affects performance. Once goals and organizational structure are established, it is through management methods that we achieve these goals. Therefore, the purpose of management is to efficiently achieve performance results.
With management, there are managers and those being managed, and the behaviors of these two roles form the culture of the organization. Culture, in turn, deeply influences the behavior of all individuals. The leadership capabilities and motivational styles of managers are the core factors that activate teams and impact the behavior of the managed team. In the end, the teamwork and collaboration of the front-line teams who are being managed result in performance output. Therefore, the eight core variables in an organization, including strategy, change, organizational structure, management, incentives, leadership, team, and culture, deeply affect the final performance of each goal.
When a new concept or method emerges, it is meaningful for an organization to improve its capabilities around these eight aspects.
So, how does OKR combine with these eight variables to play a role?
Improving Organizational Capability with OKR #
If you open the course catalog in this column and carefully browse from top to bottom, you will find that I am designing the course structure around how OKR improves various capabilities in the organization.
In Module 1, the global perspective, I introduced the relationship between OKR and strategy, allowing OKR, as a new goal management method, to integrate with organizational strategic management. Because of the existence of organizational structure hierarchy, in this module, I also introduced how to use OKR to align and generate goals at various levels to ensure that the strategy can be implemented in a multi-level organization.
In Module 2, practical operation, I explained in detail the methodology of writing Objectives and Key Results (OKRs). With the guidance of the methodology, we can improve the efficiency of writing OKRs, thus increasing the efficiency of performance management in the organization. The purpose of organizational management is how to efficiently achieve organizational performance. Therefore, mastering the practical writing method of Objectives and Key Results can effectively enhance our performance management capabilities.
In Module 3, implementation, I explain how to use OKR to refine the goal management process in the organization, how to motivate teams using OKRs (which also involves leadership), how to build excellent culture in the organization using OKR, and how to improve the organization’s ability for change through the transformation of OKR. It can be seen that throughout the OKR implementation process, the capabilities of process management, motivation, leadership, culture, and change management in the organization are enhanced.
Therefore, when OKR is introduced as a new goal management method, it does not overturn anything. We need to be able to return to the essence and think about the value of OKR in improving various capabilities in the organization in order to have the confidence to implement OKR effectively.
In the second half of the era that emphasizes organizational capabilities, OKR can comprehensively enhance the organization’s strategic management, change management, process management, motivation and leadership of teams, as well as culture building. This will make us more determined, steadily move forward, and win in the future.
Staying Determined in Uncertainty #
All good things must come to an end, and I truly feel a bit reluctant to end this OKR column. I sincerely hope that this column can truly help you.
As organizations, we need to find something unchanging amidst the changes. Similarly, as individuals in this uncertain era, what is certain is that we need to learn, grow, and strive in order to have a better future.
During my 10 years of work in Beijing, I once read a sentence that deeply touched me. I would like to share it with you here for our mutual encouragement:
What is “struggle”? Struggle is not about going through fire and water, nor is it about sacrificing oneself. Struggle is about living each day steadfastly, doing every little thing well, without procrastination, complaints, laziness, or shirking responsibilities. Every day, making consistent efforts step by step will accumulate countless courage and lead you to where you want to be with your persistence.