Stop Just Dreaming: How OKRs Turn Your Strategy into Reality

We all have big dreams and grand visions for our businesses, but how do you turn those aspirations into tangible results? The secret lies in bridging the gap between strategic planning and daily execution. In a recent OKR Week Keynote Speech, Carsten Ley of OKR Asia & OKR Champ shared invaluable insights on how to use Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) to transform your strategy from a document gathering dust on a shelf into a dynamic engine driving your company forward.

Strategy First, OKRs Second

Before you dive into the world of OKRs, it's essential to lay the groundwork with a clear, well-defined strategy. As Peter Drucker famously said, "With OKRs, the strategy you establish and measure becomes reality." But what if you do not have a clear mid-term planning to begin with?

Carsten Ley emphasized that the first step is never OKRs. Before thinking about your objectives, you should first focus on the big picture. You must have clarity of your mission, vision or North Star.

Here are some key areas to address when shaping your strategy:

• Vision: Where do you see your company in the long term? What impact do you want to make?

• Mission: What is your company's purpose? What value do you provide to your customers?

• Values: The way you go about pursing the Mission and Vision and a clear articulation of values is an invaluable tool.

• 2–5 Year Strategy: What are the key strategic themes that will guide your company's growth?

  
  

From Vision To Strategy to ActioN: The OKR Framework

Once your vision is in place, you can start implementing the OKR methodology. Here's the process:

1. Define Your Vision, Mission and Strategy (2 - 5 Year):

   
   

   Business example:

   • Vision: Be a leader in the market for ecological and sustainable products in Latin America.

   • Mission: Offer high-quality products, promoting a responsible lifestyle and contributing to the care of the environment.

   • Strategy: With focus, innovation, and growth, we want to build a solid and sustainable brand in the next three years in key countries of Latin America.

     
     

2. Establish 12-month goals by choosing the objective of a given year to focus on:

   
   

   Business example Strategic Themes:

   • Amplification of the brand

   • Diversification of products (2025)

   • Improve the usability of e-commerce (2025)

   • Reduce delivery times through alliances with rapid transport services (2025)

   • Expand to markets in key countries in the next 3 years

Choose only 2-3 of this strategic layers! OKRs is about focus so it is not wise to start all strategic topics in the first or same year!

3. Break it Down into 3 - 6 Month Objectives & Key Results 

   Start with Objectives. An Objective is an ambitious goal that moves you closer to your big vision.

   
   

   Example Objective:

   • Improve the usability of e-commerce

   
   

4. Then create measurable Key Results that will tell you if you are moving closer to achieving your objective.

   
   

   Example Key Results:

   • KR 1: Offer all your products in the online store by September 2025

   • KR 2: Increase web profit from $30,000 to $50,000 by December 2025

     
     

Benefits of How OKRS To turn your Strategy into reality

There are numerous benefits to aligning your strategy with OKRs:

• Clarity: OKRs provide a clear understanding of the roles and responsibilities of leaders and teams how OKRs turn your strategy into reality.

• Bottom-Up Innovation: OKRs encourage ideas and suggestions from all levels of the organization.

• Team Alignment: OKRs ensure that everyone is working together towards the same goals and priorities.

  
  

  

  OKR Week 2025 - Carsten Ley

  
  

Final OKR Tips

• Strategy is about themes, not departments or teams!

  Align first on the topics you would like to work on in a given year and quarter, than later assign the people from ideally different departments to these topics to support.

• Develop the objectives first and then aim to get teams or members on board!

Objectives should be inspirational and for the teams to come up with measurable and executable OKRs.

• Focus on achieving the objectives of that quarter!

  Take the strategy as a 2-5 year draft alignment and focus point but focus the teams on achieving the quarterly or half-yearly Objectives & Key Results

  
  

Get Started Today

Don't let your strategy remain a theoretical exercise. Embrace the power of OKRs to transform your vision into reality. As Carsten Ley's presentation emphasized, OKRs are not just a tool; they're a framework for driving focus, alignment, and ultimately, success.

Want to learn more about OKRs and how they can help your business? Connect with Carsten Ley and the team at OKR Asia Consulting & OKR Champ Online Certification.