56 pages • 1 hour read
John DoerrMeasure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2017A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 2, Chapters 15-17Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 2: “The New World of Work”
Part 2, Chapter 15 Summary: “Continuous Performance Management: OKRs and CFRs”
Doerr challenges the effectiveness of annual performance reviews, despite these reviews being a traditional method of measuring employee performance. He claims that these reviews are futile in driving business success and employee growth. He proposes an alternative: CFRs, which stands for conversations, feedback, and recognition. CFRs are a form of continuous performance management relying on regular, ongoing feedback between managers and employees.
Doerr encourages managers to set regular one-on-one meetings with their team members to provide opportunities for conversation. In giving feedback, he emphasizes constructive feedback, focusing on specifics that can be improved. Lastly, he believes that recognition, or acknowledging and celebrating achievements, is a crucial aspect of performance management. He claims that recognition fosters a meritocratic culture and motivates employees to continue performing well.
Part 2, Chapter 16 Summary: “Ditching Annual Performance Reviews: The Adobe Story”
Doerr includes a case study of Adobe, featuring writing by Executive Vice President Donna Morris, as an example of a company that did away with traditional performance reviews.
In 2012, Morris declared that Adobe would abandon annual performance reviews and replace them with a more continuous and feedback-oriented approach. The result was a more flexible approach, which Adobe termed “check-ins,” that focused on goals, feedback, and career development.
Doerr says that since Adobe implemented this approach in 2012, the company’s attrition has noticeably dropped.
Part 2, Chapter 17 Summary: “Baking Better Every Day: The Zume Pizza Story”
Chapter 17 highlights pizza company Zume and includes writing by cofounders and co-CEOs Julia Collins and Alex Garden.
Collins and Garden explain how, in the early days of Zume, it was easy for the two of them to communicate, set goals, and align their efforts. They were in the same physical space and had a clear understanding of their shared vision. However, once the company started to grow, they found it more difficult to maintain alignment and ensure that everyone was working toward the same objectives.
The pair tried different management approaches before settling on OKRs, which helped them create a framework for setting and tracking goals across the organization. The resulting clarity helped the founders to prioritize what really mattered to them in terms of company growth and success. They found this focus to be calming and sobering, even in the midst of chaotic company growth.
Part 2, Chapters 15-17 Analysis
The case study of Adobe in Chapter 16 illustrates that it’s never too late for a company to alter its approach to management. Adobe’s decision to abandon annual performance reviews in favor of a more continuous and feedback-oriented approach highlights the adaptability of organizations. Despite the established tradition of annual reviews, Adobe recognized the limitations of this approach and successfully transitioned to a more dynamic and employee-centric model. This example emphasizes that companies, regardless of their size or history, can pivot and adopt innovative management strategies to better align with contemporary needs and foster employee growth.
The Zume case study in Chapter 17 demonstrates how OKRs can assist a company in addressing issues with scaling. Zume’s founders, Julia Collins and Alex Garden, experienced challenges with Alignment Versus Autonomy in Organizational Management, their alignment faltering as the company grew. The implementation of OKRs provided a structured framework for setting and tracking goals across the organization. This case underscores the scalability of OKRs, emphasizing their effectiveness not only in startups or small companies but also in addressing the complexities that arise as a company expands. The Zume example illustrates how OKRs can act as a scalable solution to organizational challenges, offering clarity and strategic focus amid growth.
When examining the Zume and Adobe examples together, a broader insight emerges: Companies of different sizes can benefit from OKRs. Whether it’s the large-scale organizational shift at Adobe or the growth-related challenges faced by Zume, the underlying implication in these chapters is the universal applicability of OKRs. The flexibility and adaptability of OKRs make them a valuable tool for organizations of varied sizes and structures. This insight reinforces the idea that management methodologies, particularly those like OKRs, can transcend organizational boundaries and provide benefits to companies across the spectrum. The Importance of Transparency in Organizations is part of this wide applicability of the OKR framework, as in both cases, key to improvement of the organizations’ management was clear communication at and across all levels.
These examples collectively build up to Doerr’s larger point that times are changing, companies are changing, and management needs to change with them. “In short,” Doerr writes, “we need a new HR model for the new world of work” (176). The shift away from traditional annual performance reviews at Adobe and the adoption of OKRs at Zume are positioned as responses to the evolving business landscape. Doerr situates OKRs and CFR as tools that can be useful in this changing world. Annual performance reviews, evaluations in which employees only receive feedback once per year, are outdated, according to Doerr. He argues that CFR, a method that recognizes The Continuous Nature of Effective Goal Setting, is more suited to modern business needs. The emphasis on continuous performance management and goal-setting methodologies reflects a recognition that the traditional paradigms of business are evolving. Accordingly, successful companies need to embrace new approaches to stay competitive and foster continuous improvement.
