What Happens After OKRs?

What is a planning season? Why is idea agility so important, and how can we achieve it? And what does this have to do with OKRs?

In this episode of Dreams with Deadlines, Jenny talks to Jeff Gothelf. Jeff is a coach, speaker, author, and consultant who helps organizations build better products, and executives build the culture that builds better products.

Listen to the episode to hear Jeff explain what a planning season is and why it’s important to be able to adjust the borders of a plan, why it’s so important for organizations to use agile thinking, and how organizational roadmaps work with OKRs, as well as what it looks like for organizations after OKRs.

“At that time, I never would have said that or thought that, but in hindsight, being in a band is like being in startups.” — Jeff [02:04]

What you will learn in this episode

• [01:31] Who Jeff is and what he’s all about.
• [04:50] What Jeff means by "planning season."
• [08:19] A better way of planning.
• [14:59] Adjusting the definition and borders of planning.
• [16:00] The freedom of assumptions and hypotheses.
• [18:42] How Jeff defines value.
• [20:55] Introducing friction instead of fuel.
• [24:18] Why organizations should be thinking agilely.
• [28:45] Organizational roadmaps and how they work with OKRs.
• [34:50] What organizations do after OKRs and what that looks like.
• [38:17] Whether Jeff is considering putting out books.
• [39:12] Quickfire questions.

Relevant links

• Manifesto for Agile Software Development
• Lean UX – Getting Out Of The Deliverables Business — Smashing Magazine
• Objectives & Key Results - Everything you need to know to get started