OKRs (objectives and key results): pros, cons and an alternative
Objectives and key results tell you what to aim for and how to measure it. Clearahead asks what’s stopping you getting there
The short answer
OKRs are a way of writing goals: an objective that says where you want to go and a few key results that measure whether you got there, usually reset every quarter. Clearahead starts from one goal and asks what is holding it back, then tracks the moves that clear it, with AI keeping it all current. They aren’t rivals so much as answers to different questions, and plenty of teams can use both: your objective becomes the goal in Clearahead.
Weighing up other options too? See OKR alternatives compared.
What are OKRs?
OKRs, short for objectives and key results, are a way of setting goals. The objective says where you want to go, in words people can remember. The key results, usually three to five of them, say how you'll measure whether you got there. "Become the go-to tool for UK accountancy firms" is an objective; "sign 40 firms with more than 20 staff" is a key result.
Most companies set OKRs every quarter, often with a longer-term set for the year. They're usually written at company level and then at team level, and some companies add individual OKRs too. Progress is checked during the quarter and each key result is scored at the end, often on a scale of 0 to 1, where 0.7 on an ambitious goal counts as a good result.
Where OKRs came from
OKRs grew out of management by objectives, the idea of agreeing clear objectives with people rather than telling them what to do step by step. Andy Grove adapted it at Intel in the 1970s, where it was known as iMBOs, and wrote about the approach in High Output Management in 1983.
John Doerr learned the method on Grove's course at Intel in 1975. In 1999, by then an investor at Kleiner Perkins, he introduced it to Google, which had only a few dozen people at the time. As Google grew, OKRs grew with it, and companies such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Microsoft followed. Doerr's book Measure What Matters, published in 2018, brought OKRs to a much wider audience. We've written about how these systems fit into the longer history of management, and why most of them were built for a world where information moved slowly, in Why are you doing that?
OKRs pros and cons
What OKRs do well, and where they struggle.
Where OKRs shine
- They make you write down what success looks like in numbers, which ends a lot of vague arguments.
- They’re simple to explain: one objective, three to five key results.
- They work at scale. Intel, Google and many others have used them across thousands of people.
- Ambitious “stretch” OKRs can push a team further than a safe target would.
- They’re free to use, widely written about, and supported by lots of software.
Where OKRs struggle
- Writing good OKRs is harder than it looks; many end up as task lists or business as usual.
- Cascading them through every level takes a lot of meetings and can turn into top-down planning.
- Key results tell you whether you’re on track, not why you aren’t.
- Quarterly scoring and resetting adds admin, and the numbers are often updated just before the review.
- When OKRs get tied to performance reviews, people set safer goals.
OKRs vs Clearahead: side by side
| OKRs | Clearahead | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A goal-setting framework: objectives plus measurable key results | Software: a living model of one goal, the constraints holding it back and the moves to clear them |
| Where it comes from | Andy Grove at Intel in the 1970s; brought to Google by John Doerr in 1999 | The Theory of Constraints, rebuilt for teams that work with AI |
| The question it answers | What are we aiming for, and how will we measure it? | What is holding the goal back, and who is clearing it? |
| Cycle | Usually quarterly, sometimes with annual company OKRs | Continuous: when a constraint clears, the team finds the next one |
| Structure | Company, team and sometimes individual OKRs, often cascaded | One goal per workspace, constraints in the order you choose, moves with one owner and a due date |
| Keeping it current | Owners update progress on key results, usually weekly or before reviews | Owners tell AJ in a sentence when work moves; AJ updates the model and logs the evidence |
| Measures | Key results are the measure, usually scored 0 to 1 or as a percentage | “How you’ll know you’ve got there” on the goal, and evidence on every constraint and move |
| Software | Any: spreadsheets, slides or dedicated OKR tools | Clearahead itself, with AJ built in |
| Cost | The framework is free; software and coaching cost extra | Free for up to 3 people and 1 workspace; £297/month or £2,997/year for the whole company |
How OKRs and Clearahead differ in practice
OKRs and Clearahead start in the same place, a clear goal, and then go in different directions. OKRs spend their energy on defining and measuring the goal. Clearahead spends its energy on what's stopping you getting there.
A score, or a reason
A key result tells you whether you're on track. If you're at 40% halfway through the quarter, you know there's a problem, but the number doesn't tell you what it is. Clearahead is built on the Theory of Constraints: any goal is held back by a handful of constraints, and effort spent anywhere else barely moves it. So the core of Clearahead is a list of those constraints, in the order your team chooses, with the moves that will clear each one.
Cascading, or one shared model
Cascading OKRs means each level of the company writes its own set to support the level above. Done well, it lines everyone up. Done badly, it's weeks of meetings and a pile of goals nobody reads after week two. In Clearahead there's one goal per workspace, and everyone works in the same model: heads of department own constraints, their teams own moves, and the board and advisers follow along as Viewers.
Quarterly scoring, or a living picture
Most OKR programmes rely on people updating their numbers, and in practice that often happens the day before the review. In Clearahead, owners tell AJ, the AI inside Clearahead, in a sentence when work moves. AJ updates the model, logs the evidence and writes This week from AJ, a weekly brief with up to three things that need a decision. The picture is current because keeping it current takes seconds.
What Clearahead doesn't do
Clearahead doesn't score key results, roll goals up a hierarchy or link goals to individual performance reviews. If you need dozens of teams reporting against a common set of measures, an OKR tool does that better. We'd also say OKRs are a fine way to write the goal itself; Clearahead's goal page asks how you'll know you've got there, and a good key result answers that well.
Should you choose OKRs or Clearahead?
Choose OKRs if
- Your goals are naturally measurable and you mostly need everyone aiming at the same numbers.
- You’re a larger company that needs a common way for many teams to set and report goals.
- Your investors or board already expect OKRs and you report against them.
- You want stretch targets that push teams beyond what they think is safe.
Choose Clearahead if
- You know the goal, but the team keeps missing it and nobody can say exactly why.
- You’ve tried OKRs and they turned into a quarterly form-filling exercise.
- You’re a smaller team that needs focus on what’s in the way, not a goal hierarchy.
- You want the whole company to see where the goal really stands now, not at the end of the quarter.
- You want AI to do the chasing, the updating and the weekly summary.
Our honest read
OKRs are a good idea, and the discipline of writing down what success looks like is worth keeping whatever tool you use. Where they tend to fall down is in the gap between setting the goal and hitting it: the quarter goes by, the numbers drift, and the review becomes a post-mortem.
That gap is where Clearahead sits. If your goals are clear but progress keeps stalling, the problem usually isn't the goal; it's the thing in the way that nobody has named. We'd suggest keeping your objectives, if they're working, and using Clearahead to find and clear what's holding them back. If you're setting goals for next year, our guide to how to set company goals in 2027 covers the rest.
Questions about OKRs
What is an example of an OKR?
Objective: become the go-to tool for UK accountancy firms. Key results: sign 40 firms with more than 20 staff; reach a net promoter score of 50; cut onboarding time from three weeks to one. The objective says where you’re going; the key results say how you’ll know you got there.
What is the difference between OKRs and KPIs?
KPIs measure how the business is running day to day, like revenue, churn or response time. OKRs describe a change you want to make in a set period, with key results to show whether you made it. A key result is often a KPI moved to a new level.
What are the alternatives to OKRs?
Common alternatives are the 4 Disciplines of Execution, V2MOM, Hoshin Kanri, the Balanced Scorecard, EOS Rocks, Scaling Up and Clearahead. We compare them on our OKR alternatives page.
Is Clearahead an OKR tool?
Not exactly. Clearahead doesn’t score key results or cascade objectives. It holds one goal per workspace, the constraints holding it back and the moves that clear them. Many teams use their top objective as the goal and their key results as the way they’ll know they’ve got there.
Can you use OKRs and Clearahead together?
Yes. Set your company OKRs as usual, then give each important objective its own workspace in Clearahead. The key results describe what success looks like; Clearahead tracks what’s stopping you reaching them and who is clearing it.
What’s the difference between a key result and a constraint?
A key result is a measure of success, like “reach 200 paying customers”. A constraint is what’s stopping you, like “we can’t get meetings with the right buyers”. The first tells you the score; the second tells you where to put the effort.
Do OKRs work for small companies?
They can. Google adopted them when it had only a few dozen people. But small teams often find the quarterly writing, cascading and scoring heavy for the size of the company, and get more from focusing on the one or two things in the way.
How much do OKRs cost compared with Clearahead?
The OKR framework itself is free. Teams usually run it in spreadsheets or pay for OKR software, often priced per user. Clearahead is free for up to three people and one workspace, then £297 a month or £2,997 a year for the whole company, with unlimited people.