OKR Writer

Overview

OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are a goal-setting framework that links an inspiring qualitative Objective ("what we want to achieve") to 2-5 quantitative Key Results ("how we measure progress"). This skill produces OKRs that are outcome-focused (changes in behavior, value, or state — not task lists), measurable (a number anyone can verify), and appropriately ambitious.

Keywords: OKR, objective, key result, goal setting, KPI vs OKR, outcome vs output, stretch goal, quarterly planning, north star, measurable goals, scoring, grading.

Use this skill to: draft new OKRs from a vague goal or strategy, rewrite weak/task-based OKRs into outcome-based ones, review and score a draft set, or cascade company OKRs to teams.

Core Definitions

• Objective — A memorable, qualitative, inspirational statement of WHAT you want to accomplish in the period. No numbers. Answers "where do we want to go?"
• Key Result — A quantitative measure of HOW you'll know you got there. Has a metric, a baseline, and a target. Answers "how do we know we arrived?"
• Output — Something you produce or do (ship a feature, run 3 campaigns). NOT a key result on its own.
• Outcome — A change that results from outputs (activation rate rises from 40% to 55%). This is what good key results measure.
• Initiative / Task — The work you do to move a key result. Tracked separately, never as the OKR itself.

Workflow

Follow these steps in order. Do not skip the diagnosis step — most weak OKRs come from skipping it.

1. Clarify intent and scope. Ask (or infer) four things: the team/owner, the time horizon (quarter, year), the strategic theme or problem this serves, and the current baseline for any metric mentioned. If a baseline is unknown, flag it — a key result without a baseline is unscoreable.

1. Find the outcome. Restate the user's goal as "If we succeed, what will be measurably different about the world / customer / business?" If they hand you a task ("rebuild onboarding"), ask "so that what happens?" until you reach a metric. See references/outcome-vs-output.md.

1. Draft the Objective. Write one short, qualitative, inspiring sentence. No metrics, no jargon, no "and" stitching two goals together. It should be repeatable from memory. Use the patterns in references/objective-patterns.md.

1. Draft 2-5 Key Results. Each must follow the metric formula: <verb> <metric> from <baseline> to <target> by <date>. Cover the outcome from multiple angles and include at least one counter-balancing / quality KR so the team can't game the headline number. See references/key-result-formulas.md.

1. Calibrate ambition. Decide committed vs aspirational (stretch). For aspirational OKRs, target ~70% confidence — hitting 100% means it was sandbagged. State the confidence level explicitly.

1. Self-review with the rubric. Run every OKR through references/review-rubric.md (or scripts/okr_lint.py for automated checks). Fix any KR that is a task, lacks a number, lacks a baseline, or just measures activity.

1. Present. Output using templates/okr-template.md. Include owner, period, confidence, and the initiatives separately from the KRs.

The Key Result Formula

Every key result should be reducible to:

> {Direction verb} {metric} from {baseline} to {target} by {deadline}.

Examples:

• "Increase 30-day user retention from 42% to 55% by end of Q3."
• "Reduce average support first-response time from 9h to under 2h by Sept 30."
• "Grow ARR from $4.2M to $5.0M by year end."

If you can write "Done / Not done" instead of a number, it is probably a task, not a key result. Binary milestones are allowed sparingly (e.g., "Achieve SOC 2 Type II certification") but prefer graded metrics.

Decision Heuristics

• Task vs Key Result test: Ask "Could we do this perfectly and still fail the objective?" If yes, it's an output/initiative, not a KR. Demote it.
• Vanity vs value test: Would the metric impress a board slide but not reflect real value (e.g., "signups" with no activation)? Pair it with an activation/retention KR or replace it.
• Gaming test: "How would a lazy/clever team hit this number without delivering the intent?" Add a counter-metric to close the loophole.
• Memorability test: Can a team member recite the Objective without reading it? If not, shorten.
• Quantity test: More than 5 KRs per Objective dilutes focus; more than 3-5 Objectives per team scatters effort. Cut.

Worked Example (compressed)

Weak input: "Improve our mobile app and ship the redesign."

Diagnosis: This is an output. The implied outcome is usage/satisfaction. Baseline needed.

Strong OKR:

• Objective: Make the mobile app the channel customers love most.
• KR1: Raise mobile App Store rating from 3.6 to 4.5 by end of Q4.
• KR2: Increase share of weekly active users on mobile from 31% to 50%.
• KR3: Cut mobile crash-free-session rate gaps: improve from 98.1% to 99.5% (counter-balance for shipping fast).
• Initiatives (not KRs): ship redesign, add biometric login, fix top 10 crashes.

See examples/saas-growth-okrs.md and examples/rewrite-weak-okrs.md for full examples.

Best Practices

• Limit to 3-5 Objectives per team, 2-5 Key Results per Objective.
• Objectives are qualitative and inspiring; Key Results are quantitative and boring-precise.
• Always record a baseline and a deadline within the OKR period.
• Separate Initiatives (the work) from Key Results (the result). Track both, grade only KRs.
• Mark each set as committed (must hit 100%) or aspirational (target ~70%).
• Make OKRs public across the org; cascade by alignment, not literal copy-paste.
• Set, then grade at period end on a 0.0-1.0 scale; reflect, don't punish stretch misses.

Common Pitfalls

• Task lists masquerading as KRs ("Launch v2", "Hire 3 engineers") — these are initiatives.
• No baseline — "Increase revenue" with no start point can't be scored.
• Sandbagging — targets the team already knows they'll hit; nothing learned.
• Too many OKRs — everything is a priority, so nothing is.
• Vanity metrics — page views, raw signups, lines of code.
• Objectives with numbers — that's a key result wearing an objective's hat.
• Stitched objectives — "Grow revenue AND improve quality AND hire" — split them.
• Set-and-forget — no mid-period check-ins or end-period grading.

Supporting Files

• references/outcome-vs-output.md — how to convert outputs into outcomes, the "so that" laddering technique, and a large lookup table.
• references/objective-patterns.md — sentence patterns and a bank of strong/weak objective examples.
• references/key-result-formulas.md — KR metric types, the formula, counter-metrics, and verb lists.
• references/review-rubric.md — the scoring rubric to grade any draft OKR set.
• templates/okr-template.md — fill-in template for presenting a final OKR set.
• examples/saas-growth-okrs.md — a complete company → team cascade example.
• examples/rewrite-weak-okrs.md — before/after rewrites of common bad OKRs.
• scripts/okr_lint.py — runnable linter that flags task-like, baseline-less, or number-less key results.