John Doerr isn't exactly a household name for everyone, but in Silicon Valley, he's basically a deity. He's the guy who walked into a garage in 1889—wait, no, it was 1999—and handed Google’s founders a check that changed the world. But he didn't just give Larry Page and Sergey Brin money. He gave them a system. That system is what the measure what matters book is all about. It’s called OKRs, or Objectives and Key Results. It sounds like corporate jargon. Honestly, it kind of is. But it’s the reason Google went from a chaotic startup to a global powerhouse.
Most people think setting goals is easy. You just decide what you want and try to do it, right? Wrong. Most companies are terrible at this. They set vague goals like "increase revenue" or "be the best in the market." These are useless. They don't tell anyone what to actually do on a Tuesday morning at 10:00 AM. Doerr’s book argues that ideas are easy, but execution is everything. He learned this from Andy Grove, the legendary CEO of Intel, who is widely considered the father of modern management.
The Actual Mechanics of the Measure What Matters Book
The core of the book is simple, but the implementation is where everyone trips up. An Objective is the what. It has to be significant, concrete, and action-oriented. It’s the mountain you’re trying to climb. The Key Results are the how. They are specific, time-bound, and, most importantly, measurable. If it doesn't have a number, it's not a Key Result. It's just a task.
You see this a lot in the measure what matters book: the idea of transparency. In most companies, the CEO's goals are a secret. At Google, or LinkedIn, or even nonprofit organizations like the Gates Foundation (all featured in the book), everyone’s OKRs are public. You can look up what the CEO is working on right now. This creates alignment. It stops people from working on stuff that doesn't matter. It sounds scary to have your goals public, but it’s the only way to ensure everyone is rowing the boat in the same direction.
Why Andy Grove Mattered So Much
Andy Grove was a survivor. He escaped the Nazis and the Soviets, moved to America, and eventually ran Intel. He was obsessed with output. In the book, Doerr recalls his time at Intel in the 70s. Grove realized that traditional "Management by Objectives" (MBOs) were too slow. They were set once a year and then forgotten. Grove wanted something more agile. He wanted a system that could pivot as fast as the tech industry.
He pioneered the idea that "it almost doesn’t matter what you know; it’s what you do with what you know." This mindset permeates every page of the measure what matters book. It's not a book for theorists. It’s a book for people who need to get things done yesterday.
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The Four Superpowers (And Why They Aren't Just Buzzwords)
Doerr breaks down the benefits of OKRs into four "superpowers."
First, there’s Focus. You have to limit yourself. If you have ten objectives, you have none. You need maybe three to five. That’s it. Anything more and you’re just making a to-do list. This forces hard conversations. You have to say "no" to good ideas so you can say "yes" to great ones.
Then comes Alignment. This is about the "cascade." In the old days, goals came from the top down. In a healthy OKR system, about half of the goals should come from the bottom up. The people on the front lines usually know better than the executives what’s actually happening. If the engineers and the sales team aren't aligned, the company grinds to a halt.
The third is Tracking. You can't just set it and forget it. You need check-ins. If a Key Result is at 0% halfway through the quarter, you don't just hope it gets better. You pivot. You change the KR or you double down on resources. The measure what matters book emphasizes that data-driven mid-course corrections are the difference between success and failure.
Finally, there’s Stretching. This is the most controversial part. Google famously aims for "moonshots." If you hit 100% of your goals, you're playing it too safe. You should be aiming for a 70% success rate. If you're hitting 70%, you're pushing boundaries. If you're hitting 100%, your goals were too easy. You're sandbagging.
The CFR Factor: The Missing Piece
Most people read the first half of the book and think they're done. They ignore the CFRs: Conversations, Feedback, and Recognition. This is the "human" side of the system. Without CFRs, OKRs are just a cold, heartless spreadsheet.
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Annual performance reviews are a joke. Everybody knows it. They’re awkward, they’re biased, and they happen way too late to change anything. CFRs replace that outdated model with continuous performance management. It’s about having a real talk with your manager once a week or once a month. "How are your OKRs going? What's blocking you? How can I help?" That's the stuff that actually moves the needle.
Where the Measure What Matters Book Gets It Wrong (Or Where Readers Do)
Look, no system is perfect. One big criticism of the measure what matters book is that it makes it look too easy. It’s full of "success stories." Google, Intuit, Adobe. It rarely talks about the companies that tried OKRs and failed miserably. And plenty do.
The biggest pitfall? Turning Key Results into a checklist of tasks. If your Key Result is "Write three blog posts," you’ve failed. That’s a task. A real Key Result would be "Increase organic traffic by 20% through blog content." See the difference? One is about doing work; the other is about achieving a result.
Another issue is the "set and forget" trap. Companies spend three weeks in January arguing about their OKRs, put them in a PowerPoint, and then never look at them again until April. That’s just MBOs with a fancy new name. If OKRs aren't part of your weekly meetings, they aren't working.
Real-World Examples Beyond Tech
One of the coolest parts of the book is seeing how OKRs work in the non-profit world. Bono uses them for DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa). The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation uses them to track the eradication of diseases. It proves that this isn't just about making more money for shareholders. It’s about clarity of mission. When the stakes are life and death, you really need to measure what matters.
Actionable Steps: How to Actually Start
If you're sitting there thinking your team needs this, don't just go out and buy 50 copies of the book and expect a miracle. Start small.
Step 1: The Pilot. Pick one team. Don't roll it out to the whole company yet. Let one department try it for a quarter. Let them make mistakes. Let them figure out what a "stretch goal" feels like for them.
Step 2: Less is More. Seriously. One Objective. Three Key Results. Start there. It’s harder than it looks to be that concise. If you can’t explain your objective to a ten-year-old, it’s too complicated.
Step 3: Make it Measurable. Use the "as measured by" formula. We will [Objective] as measured by [Key Result 1, 2, 3]. If there’s no number, go back to the drawing board.
Step 4: Separating Pay from OKRs. This is the big one. If you tie bonuses directly to OKRs, people will set easy goals. They will sandbag. They will lie. Use OKRs for growth and direction; use a separate system for compensation. This is a hill that John Doerr is willing to die on, and for good reason.
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Step 5: The Weekly Ritual. Every Monday, talk about the OKRs. Every Friday, celebrate the wins. It has to become the heartbeat of the organization. If it feels like "extra work," you're doing it wrong. It is the work.
Ultimately, the measure what matters book is a call to arms for anyone tired of "busywork." It’s about reclaiming your time and making sure the hours you spend at your desk actually mean something. It’s not about working harder. It’s about working on the right things.