On Uncertainty, Randomness, and how OKRs are Networks

Chris Butler is a Chaotic Good Product Manager, the Global Head of Product Operations at Cognizant, a writer, and a speaker. He worked previously as a product leader at Microsoft, Facebook, KAYAK, and Waze. Jenny and Chris discuss a broad range of topics including: the future of AI products, uncertainty, randomness, OKRs as networks and trojan horses, issues with hierarchies, and the adversarial mindset.

What you will learn in this episode

• (0:00) Intro
• (1:06) Chris’s career path
• (2:50) Experience with OKRs
• (4:40) Uncertainty and Randomness
• (7:50) Ludum Dare game jam
• (10:10) More variants create more possibilities
• (14:50) Product Mindset and Adversarial Mindset
• (21:08) Be good with uncertainty
• (22:00) System boundary
• (23:45) OKRs are networks
• (27:20) Trojan horse for strategy
• (29:54) KPIs
• (33:40) Fog and friction
• (36:42) Manufacturing Mindset
• (41:56) When goals aren’t met
• (48:48) Rapid questions
• (55:58) Outro

Relevant links

• OKRs are networks not hierarchies by Chris Butler
• “Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned: The Myth of the Objective” by Joel Lehman and Kenneth O. Stanley:
• “The Uncertainty Mindset” by Vaughn Tan
• Amazon's Two Pizza Teams
• Oblique Strategies
• “On War” by Carl von Clausewitz