Apples, Oranges, and OKRs
Don’t compare apples to oranges.
Except that comparing them is the easiest thing in the world.
They’re both edible. One has a core. One doesn’t. One is a citrus fruit. One is a pome fruit. One was introduced to Europe in the 10th century during the Arab Agricultural Revolution, and one had the purported distinction of giving eternal life to the gods and goddesses of the Norse pantheon—that is, once Loki brought Iðunn back to Asgard.
And with that, dear readers, I’ve completed my comparison. See how easy that was?
No, the true error is acting as if the qualities of apples and oranges are interchangeable, a fallacy that pops up frequently in the field of project management.
Two commonly conflated entities in the PM sphere are objectives and key results. The two go together, but confusing them with each other is a recipe for chaos.
In a nutshell (or an orange peel), objectives define what needs to be achieved. They describe a desired result or outcome, like an improvement in onboarding, an increase in customer satisfaction, or a boost in operational efficiency.
By contrast, key results are the quantifiable outcomes that define when an objective has been met. For instance, if the objective is to improve operational efficiency, a key result might be “95% of customer service tickets closed within the first 24 hours of submission.”
Combine an objective and a set of key results and you have what’s known as an OKR, a crucial building block for successful projects. But combining the two elements is not the same as treating them identically. “Customer retention” is not a key result. “90% customer satisfaction” is not a goal. Forget about the “O” and your project lacks purpose. Forget about the “KR” and you lose the ability to gauge your success.
In my experience, forgetting the “O” is the more common error. Professional-level Project Managers know that metrics are important. As such, they typically have no problem ideating key results. But the real challenge is digging deeper, scraping beneath the surface, and finding the underlying “X Factor” that not only makes the numbers meaningful but animates the entire purpose of the project. Failure to do so can lead to false premises, which in turn leads to improper delineation of project scope, one of the biggest headaches a project manager can face.
So take the time you need at the outset. Identify exactly what you’re trying to accomplish. Come up with the numbers to prove you’ve accomplished it. And when you’re finished, pour yourself a nice, cold glass of orange juice. Or maybe apple juice. Your call in the end!