OKR Integrated into Other Management Systems: BAU and Strategic Projects

On numerous occasions, we focus on implementing the OKR system in isolation, without considering the broader context of the organization. This tendency hinders the sustainability of the model over time, as daily demands tend to dilute the strategic conversations that arose when establishing OKRs. As Peter Drucker noted, "Culture eats strategy for breakfast."

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A key strategy to strengthen the implementation of OKRs is to recognize and integrate other strategic conversations in the organization.

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Based on our experience, we share three types of conversations that coexist, complement, and reinforce each other:

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1.Defining the GROWTH of the company with OKRs:

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¿What will be the Objectives and Key Results that will guide us? ¿What initiatives and experiments will we implement for growth in the next cycle?

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2.Defining the HEALTH of the company with KPIs:

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¿Which KPIs will guide the organization's health? ¿What ranges are considered healthy to ensure the operation and Business As Usual (BAU) of the company? ¿Have they changed with variations in our OKRs?

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3.Pursuing CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT through the portfolio of Strategic Projects:

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¿What are the cross-organizational projects that we need to prioritize, ensuring continuous improvement? ¿What is the progress of the associated work plan?

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3 conversations, and 3 different mindsets:

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Distinguishing the philosophy and spirit of these three models allows understanding the habits and mindset that are expected to be fostered in each case. The difference between these three approaches is profound, but we could summarize it as follows:

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1.Growth conversations are associated with axioms of innovation and learning.

2.BAU conversations are associated with axioms rooted in efficiency and sustaining commitments according to service agreements.

3.Strategic Projects conversations are associated with axioms of continuous improvement and medium-term project planning.

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¿Have you reflected on what type of conversations and culture mostly inhabits your organization as a whole? We propose the following exercise: take for granted the conversations of the last planning that happened in your organization. Try to identify:

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¿What percentage of effort will be focused on the GROWTH of the company?

¿What percentage will be allocated to BAU and continuous improvement projects?

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Your organization will grow exponentially according to the relevance given to GROWTH conversations (results-oriented), which are often hacked by the operational burden that leaders have over BAU (task-oriented). Your organization will be compromised in its BAU if GROWTH conversations prevent immediate action on commitments already made with your client.

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Integrating models and work teams:

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In the years we have supported OKR model implementations, a systemic view has become essential to sustain changes over time and prevent them from being just a trend. Successful organizations managing OKRs tend to integrate them into broader cultural models, often led by human resources areas, and even venturing into integration with strategic planning models.

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Another noteworthy case is the evolution of tools for OKR management, which originally focused on metrics and team association but over time have shifted to comprehensive management solutions that include performance measurement, feedback, reviews, and other events and practices that provide transparency in individual and team management.

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From the particular to the general, and vice versa:

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"Individual learning does not guarantee organizational learning, but without it, there is no organizational learning," says Peter Senge in his book "The Fifth Discipline."

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The integration of these general conversations, without losing particularities, provides greater assertiveness and promotes overall evolution. The final answer, once again in these VUCA contexts, lies in the nuances of combining the particular with the general, the present with the future, always guided by the overarching purpose that distinguishes each of the organizations we support.

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