Methodology

A way to build a fast-learning organization: one where people thrive, decisions rest on field feedback, and management gets quality data instead of reporting overhead.

The pillars

The method combines two proven approaches:

• OKRs: objective management that gives everyone clear priorities and individual ownership.
• Lean start-up: a disciplined way to test the assumptions behind your strategy, so objectives are grounded in what you actually know.

Task tracking, project management or SCRUM can sit alongside them. The rule for any added tool: it must improve the quality of the work and the motivation of the people doing it, not only management’s visibility.

Is this for you?

It works best for organizations whose core activity is innovation: start-ups, R&D teams, new business units. Innovation can be technical, financial or business-related.

What you need: just two things

• A sponsor. One leader who backs the effort. No company-wide mandate? A team manager with room to experiment can run a pilot in their own team.
• No active crisis. If an urgent fire is burning, put it out first. Otherwise, we start small enough to fit a busy schedule.

What we handle together

• No internal champion yet? I take that role during the first cycles while someone in your team ramps up.
• New to lean start-up? A short workshop gives leaders and managers what they need to challenge objectives.
• Teams already stretched? Start with one team, one cycle and two objectives. Add more once it pays off.
• Vision not written down? Formalizing it is the first step, and we do it together.
• Internal politics? Public objectives make priorities and contributions visible to everyone. Less politics is an outcome of the method, not a condition for starting.

Not sure where you stand? Take the free diagnostic: in a few minutes you will know where to start.

How adoption works

1. Formalize the strategy. Write down the overall direction as a vision and/or mission everyone knows. We draft it together if it only lives in leaders’ heads.
2. Define strategic pillars. The leadership team picks 3 or 4. Drop any pillar the vision doesn’t strictly need.
3. Challenge objectives with lean start-up. For each objective, ask: what assumptions does it rely on, and are they verified? If not, reword the objective as a search for the missing information.
4. Set overall objectives. Leadership sets current priorities that strengthen a pillar, each with progress metrics. They are usually reviewed yearly; some last several years.
5. Choose a cycle length. Monthly for small, very dynamic teams. Quarterly for growing organizations with several hierarchy levels.
6. Cascade objectives. Each level, down to individuals, sets objectives showing how it supports the level above. Objectives are public, with possible exceptions.
7. Report regularly. Teams share progress on their key results at set intervals.

Start small, then grow

• Begin with the easy changes and add elements gradually.
• Adapt the setup to your history, your leaders and your type of product.
• Watch for the classic pitfalls: cycles too short or too long, vague OKRs, overloaded meeting calendars.
• Expect the result to differ from the plan, and stay flexible. That is the method working, not failing.

Want an outside perspective?

I support companies through adoption, from the first pilot to a self-running practice. See the Offer page, contact me, or start with the free diagnostic.