‘Objectives and Key Results” (OKR) is a popular management tool. OKRs are a way to disseminate goals throughout the company and ensure that everyone understands their role and responsibilities. We take the top-level corporate goal, divide it up into a series of objectives that cascade throughout the company in a manner that will add up to achieving the goal. Each objective has key results that are measurable, so we can determine progress toward achieving the corporate goal.
The process makes me think about the whole topic of commitments. Commitments are the engine of performance and execution. Nearly everything we do requires individuals and teams to work together in a coordinated way, and to collaborate across functional areas of the company. Great execution happens when each team member can rely upon their teammates to deliver their commitments.
Real commitments have a special language all to themselves. A well formed commitment requires an agreement to do something by a certain date – “I will do this by then.” It must include the time for completion, or else it is just an intention – “I will do this…” People are usually truthful, and we often can rely on their good intentions, but without a timeframe, or a ‘by when,’ we don’t have a commitment.
There is a formal language of commitment, and it is something we need to practice and perfect. In the language of commitment, one party asks for the commitment - “will you do this by then?” The other party can answer in only four ways:
“yes, I will do this by then”
“no, I will not do this by then, but I can commit to do it by another time”
“I can commit to do something else by then”
“no, I will not do this”
The distinction between commitments and intentions surfaces all the time in meetings and business interactions. How many times have you participated in a meeting where you asked somebody to do something, and you received a positive response without a date-certain (in other words an intention), only to be disappointed later when whatever you asked for did not materialize? All the time - right? Unless there is an explicit timeframe in the response, a mismatch of your expectations and the other person’s intention for delivery is bound to happen. You think it is immediate, but the other person intends to do it whenever they can get around to it. A proper commitment is a contract between the parties. It is clear, actionable, and measurable.
We expect people to be accountable for their commitments, and increasing the pace of performance is dependent upon being able to anticipate achievement of commitments. For example, if we have a commitment for a feature to be available on a certain date, then we can start to gear up marketing and sales for the new feature in advance of that date so that when the feature ships, we are already moving forward. Like a receiver sprinting forward anticipating a pass, or a player skating to where the puck will be, if we can anticipate then we can drive faster and harder toward the goal. The alternative, if we cannot rely upon a commitment, is to hold off until we really, really see the result before we start the machinery to move forward. If the whole machine is waiting to see if a commitment was real, then performance slows to a crawl.
Making a commitment requires integrity, intention and truth. The person making the commitment has to mean it and believe they will achieve the result as promised. The person asking for the commitment has to trust the person making the commitment, and trust is earned by demonstrating integrity, intention and truth. Integrity requires that we mean what we say - be clear and precise in your commitment. We also have to fully intend to do what we say. Lastly, truth is the bedrock of committing honestly - no hidden agendas. Truth also requires honesty about capability and capacity to perform the commitment. Don’t commit to something unless you believe you can truly do it.
If you are making a commitment, make sure you have integrity, intention, and truth, and expect to be accountable for your commitment. If your success is dependent upon commitments made by others, make sure you have trust and you are really getting a commitment and not just an intention. Performance and execution depends upon driving true commitments from each other, and everyone being accountable for the commitments we make. When we do this well, we create an unstoppable machine!