A good measurement culture where numbers don’t replace common sense
This is a great article. I&#x27;ve consulted with many startups that are really scared of OKRs and KPIs and have some PTSD around them, but they need not be scary!<p>Here is a scenario:<p>It&#x27;s January and Sales is getting feedback from customers that if the business has a managed k8s offering, they would not only buy it but expand their use of the platform generally. Sales passes this information to product and product does some research, finding that indeed there would be a market for a managed k8s offering. They pull together a report and start to shop it around to get feedback and buy in from around the company, consulting with different orgs. After a while, a business case is flushed out and the management green light an MVP k8s offering that will generate revenue by the end of the year.  An objective and key result for the business becomes: this year launch a managed k8s offering so a small number of customers with an eye for $50,000 MRR.<p>Every org should then have some performance indicators that indicate that the business is tracking towards the release of this product this year, it doesn&#x27;t not need to be complex just as the OKR should not and does not need to be complex, it&#x27;s simply an indicator that we&#x27;re on track (and it&#x27;s ok if you&#x27;re not, maybe the OKR was unrealistic, that&#x27;s ok!)<p>Eng: KPI: stand up k8s - KPI: make k8s stable - KPI: make k8s more stable - KPI: tie k8s into the rest of the stack - etc<p>Product: KPI: Research how k8s should be be exposed - KPI: Research how k8s service should be billed - KPI: MVP product design and test internally - etc<p>Support: KPI: understand staff to support a new offering - KPI: Training and hiring for new staff to support the offering - etc<p>Marketing: KPI: understand the message to the market - KPI: understand how competitors are marketing their k8s offering - KPI: understand how to advertise new offering - etc<p>Etc - etc.<p>OKRs and KPIs do not have to be a whole song and dance, they are simply a way to keep a company of organizations aligned and moving in the same direction regarding agreed upon objectives for the business, folks get super hung up on granularity. Doing this well helps tie together some of the most important aspects of a healthy and successful go to market: Vision, Mission and Purpose. I understand the vision of the business, the things we will make true in the future. I understand the mission of my team and organization on how we will realize this vision. I understand my purpose within the vision and mission and why I am an important component.<p>I firmly believe it&#x27;s only with this as part of your foundation can achieve employee satisfaction, have directionally forward teams, and become a &quot;high performing business&quot;.