Why OKRs Often Fail: Three Lessons from Practice

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When helping companies adopt OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), I’ve seen the same challenges repeat again and again.

Here are three observations that might sound familiar if you’ve worked with OKRs yourself:

1. Underestimating the need for system

OKRs are not just a tool for setting goals. They’re a framework that requires regular attention, discipline, and iteration.

Too often, companies use OKRs “their own way” — applying them partially, loosely, or inconsistently.

There are already plenty of high-quality guides out there, and John Doerr’s book remains a solid starting point. The challenge: people rarely read it all the way through, and they end up improvising.

2. Forgetting about CFR

OKRs don’t live in isolation. An important but often overlooked part of the system is CFR: Conversations, Feedback, and Recognition.

CFRs bring OKRs to life in the team. Without them, OKRs stay as lines in a document instead of becoming part of the daily rhythm.
This topic deserves its own deep dive — I’ll share more thoughts on it separately.

3. Unrealistic expectations

Too often, OKRs are expected to be a “magic fix” — something that will inspire the team, create clarity overnight, and drive growth.

But OKRs are not a one-time inspiration. They’re a regular practice.

I often compare this to personal hygiene or sports:

- We don’t expect excitement from brushing teeth.
- One month of training won’t make us Olympic athletes.

But we all know — without those routines, quality of life suffers.

The same with OKRs: they work only when they become part of everyday work. Sustainable results appear not when you’re “trying OKRs,” but when you start to identify with this way of thinking and acting.

James Clear’s Atomic Habits makes this point very well: change becomes sustainable only when it becomes part of your identity.

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Conclusion:

- As long as OKRs remain an external system, they won’t stick.
- But once they become an internal habit, everything changes.