OKR Origin

OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) originated from Intel in the 1970s, thanks to Andy Grove, who was the company's CEO at the time. Grove, along with his colleagues, introduced the framework to help Intel track its ambitious growth and innovation goals.

The evolution of OKRs:

• Andy Grove was an advocate for clear, measurable goals to drive performance. He wanted to ensure that employees were aligned and focused on the most critical results that would drive the company forward.
• The OKR framework was built on Management by Objectives (MBO), a system introduced by Peter Drucker. MBO emphasized setting clear objectives with measurable results, but OKRs introduced a more structured and agile approach to this.
• Initially, Intel used OKRs to track individual performance, but it quickly scaled across the company as a way to drive alignment and focus.
• John Doerr, a former Intel executive, helped spread the concept beyond Intel when he introduced OKRs to companies like Google in the early 2000s. Google’s success with OKRs brought widespread recognition to the framework.

Today, OKRs are used by companies across all industries, from startups to biggest companies globally, and even non-profits, to achieve alignment, focus, and measurable results. The flexibility and simplicity of OKRs, combined with their emphasis on measurable outcomes, have made them a popular tool for organizations looking to track progress, stay aligned, and drive continuous improvement.