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Christina Wodtke is an author, Stanford University professor, and speaker who teaches strategies for building high-performing teams. She\u2019s also the author of Radical Focus, which some consider the de facto guide to OKRs. In today\u2019s episode, we dive into OKRs and how they can be used to help your team achieve better results. Christina shares her expertise on crafting OKRs, how she uses them in her personal life, and common mistakes you should avoid when you sit down to write your own. She discusses effective goal setting and outlines a systematic approach to achieving key results. Finally, Christina gives some specific tips on how to improve your storytelling and drawing skills and explains why it\u2019s smart to set ambitious goals.

Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ultimate-guide-to-okrs-christina

Where to find Christina Wodtke:

\u2022 Twitter: https://twitter.com/cwodtke

\u2022 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinawodtke/

\u2022 Website: https://eleganthack.com/

Where to find Lenny:

\u2022 Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

\u2022 Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

\u2022 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

Referenced:

\u2022 OKR worksheet template: http://eleganthack.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/OKR_Worksheet.pdf

\u2022 Yahoo\u2019s peanut butter memo: https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB116379821933826657

\u2022 The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable: https://www.amazon.com/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-Fable/dp/0787960756/

\u2022 Radical Focus: Achieving Your Most Important Goals with Objectives and Key Results: https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Focus-Achieving-Important-Objectives/dp/0996006087

\u2022 Pencil Me In: https://www.amazon.com/Pencil-Me-Christina-Wodtke-ebook/dp/B075Z8J35G?

\u2022 The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures: https://www.amazon.com/Back-Napkin-Expanded-Problems-Pictures/dp/1591842697/ref=sr_1_1

\u2022 The Minto Pyramid Principle: https://www.barbaraminto.com/

\u2022 Lane Shackleton\u2019s guest post on Lenny\u2019s Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-coda-builds-product

\u2022 The Product Trio by Teresa Torres: https://www.producttalk.org/2021/05/product-trio/

\u2022 Ken Norton\u2019s website: https://www.bringthedonuts.com/about/

\u2022 The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth: https://www.amazon.com/Fearless-Organization-Psychological-Workplace-Innovation/dp/1119477247

\u2022 The Overstory: https://www.amazon.com/Overstory-Novel-Richard-Powers/dp/039335668X/

\u2022 Cloud Atlas: https://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Atlas-Novel-David-Mitchell/dp/0375507256

\u2022 Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9114286/

\u2022 The Team That Managed Itself: A Story of Leadership: https://www.amazon.com/Team-that-Managed-Itself-Leadership-ebook/dp/B07ZG5Y689

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Christina\u2019s background

(04:54) How Christina uses OKRs to manage her personal life

(07:42) The purpose of OKRs

(16:15) Mission, vision, roadmaps, and OKRs

(20:57) How strategy ties in

(22:39) Why OKRs should be kept simple, and the ideal way to express key results

(23:45) The importance of customer satisfaction and why you need a qualitative researcher

(24:58) Common mistakes people make when writing OKRs

(26:14) An example of writing OKRs for an online magazine about interior design

(29:28) The importance of repetition

(33:17) The 5 whys

(36:40) Why you should start OKRs with your best multi-disciplinary team

(38:44) Christina\u2019s book, Radical Focus

(40:26) The importance of storytelling and drawing (even badly!)

(43:21) Tips to become a better storyteller

(44:29) Using the Minto method for storytelling

(46:02) The cadence of OKRs and the importance of celebrations

(51:09) A different kind of approval process to get OKRs done more efficiently

(53:01) Why the focus on learning is more important than grading

(54:29) Why you should set ambitious goals

(57:47) Where to start

(1:00:48) The overemphasis of UX in product management education and the importance of business sense

(1:03:01) Advice for people seeking a career in product management

(1:05:44) Lightning round

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.