[maytc]

IMHO, cascading is OKRs' real power. It forces the organization to say no to most things, which sharpens its focus on what needs to be done.

Throw that away, setting aligned SMART goals would achieve a similar effect as aligned OKRs.

[dalyons]

Never seen cascading work either. Just ends up in endless wasted time formulating 5th level deep okrs, that become so specific they are quickly irrelevant as the organization changes and pivots over the year.

[1123581321]

No one should be writing OKRs that deep. If your organization has five levels, the fifth level should be writing their own top level OKRs. They don’t take that long unless the company is critically indecisive. They’re for companies that are capable of executing and need to focus or change directions.

[johnkizer]

Agreed, the only time I ever saw OKRs work in my professional life was a (sadly) brief ~6 month period during which cascading OKRs were strictly enforced from CEO down.

I suspect folks don't like that because it forces middle management to actually decide, for real, who is doing what, rather than allowing multiple different teams to fragment off chunks of what should be a whole (which then lets them both claim personal victory and deflect blame for the whole actually failing)

[moandcompany]

In addition to sharpening focus, this really helps leadership know how to place more wood behind fewer arrows ;)

[brightball]

Any good reading material on that?