The real difference between OKRs and KPIs – and why your business needs both

In a world obsessed with measurement, two goal-setting frameworks stand out – but their strengths depend on how you use them.

In the late 1990s, Google wasn’t yet a verb. Larry Page and Sergey Brin were in a garage, and the tech giant’s explosive future growth was far from assured. Enter John Doerr, the venture capitalist who introduced a deceptively simple system: Objectives and Key Results (OKRs). Google embraced the philosophy behind OKRs, attracting customers by the thousands, then millions, and ultimately billions. By clearly defining ambitious goals and measurable steps, they transformed from an unknown startup into a global powerhouse.

Contrast this with a familiar picture: a monthly corporate dashboard packed with metrics: sales numbers, customer churn, website visits. This is the domain of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), those trusty metrics businesses track to ensure steady operations and incremental improvements. KPIs tell you if your engine is running smoothly; OKRs tell you where you’re headed next.

The two frameworks

OKRs and KPIs might sound similar, but their impact and intent differ sharply:

• OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) set ambitious, strategic goals. Objectives state what the organization wants to achieve; Key Results show precisely how success is measured. Think: “Become the market leader” (objective) with “increase market share from 10% to 20% by year-end” (key result).
• KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) track ongoing operational performance. They reflect the health and stability of routine business activities: monthly revenue targets, customer retention rates, or uptime.

Using an analogy, if your business is a car, KPIs are your dashboard gauges: fuel level, speed, engine temperature. They warn of issues before they become breakdowns. OKRs are your GPS: providing directions, highlighting your next milestone, and recalculating routes as needed.

Four scenarios every organization faces

Companies land in distinct categories based on how they balance OKRs and KPIs:

Situation	Result
Clear OKRs and effective KPIs	Teams achieve ambitious goals and sustain performance. The ideal.
Ambitious OKRs but poor KPI monitoring	Teams aim high but fail to manage everyday operations effectively. Chaos ensues.
Strong KPI tracking but no clear OKRs	Teams hit targets but stagnate, unable to innovate or adapt.
Weak or absent OKRs and KPIs	Teams drift aimlessly, underperforming and discontented. Talent leaves.

Clearly, neither KPIs nor OKRs alone can fully equip an organization for sustained success.

What works: case studies of companies getting it right

Intel: pioneering strategic focus with OKRs

Long before Google popularized OKRs, Intel CEO Andy Grove created them to steer the company’s radical pivot from memory chips to microprocessors. Grove’s OKRs set clear objectives—dominate the microprocessor market—and measurable key results. Revenues soared from $1.9 billion to over $26 billion during Grove’s tenure, showing how OKRs could drive strategic clarity and execution.

Tip: Use a scoring system

Key result should not be treated as just targets, but as measurable goals designed to be scored. Google, for instance, uses a 0–1 scale for each key result, with the “sweet spot” being scores between 0.6 and 0.7, which indicate success. This grading system keeps expectations realistic while still pushing teams to aim high. Over time, these scores provide a learning loop for improving future goal setting.

What doesn’t work: metrics far from the frontlines

How Sears expanded its OKRs for greater success

In 2013, Sears Holdings undertook one of the largest OKR deployments in a traditional retail setting, rolling out the framework to approximately 20,000 salaried employees. The initial results were muted, partly because OKRs were first implemented mainly among managers and salaried staff, rather than front-line associates and call center agents. Recognizing this limitation, Sears expanded the OKR program to include outbound call center teams and adjusted the objectives to be more actionable and relevant to their daily work.

After these adjustments, Sears observed a statistically significant improvement: average sales per hour in the call center increased from $14.44 to $15.67, an 8.5% gain. Internal analysis later showed that employees using OKRs regularly were 11.5% more likely to move into higher performance brackets.

Tip: Avoid stretch goals without safeguards

Stretch goals come with a warning label. When organizations push overly ambitious OKRs without support or ethical safeguards, they can backfire. The Wells Fargo sales goals scandal was one such example, where employees, under pressure to hit unrealistic account-opening goals, resorted to unethical practices. The lesson: ambition without oversight can erode trust and brand equity.

The new workforce demands both

Today’s workforce, especially younger generations, expects more than a paycheck. For them, good pay, flexibility, and fairness (KPI-driven hygiene factors) are baseline expectations, not luxuries. They want meaningful objectives, transparency, and a clear sense of how their work contributes to the bigger picture.

Businesses must adopt both KPIs and OKRs to meet these evolving expectations. Otherwise, talent moves on.

How to strike the right balance

Effective organizations use both frameworks strategically:

• Set OKRs first: identify key objectives quarterly, making them visible and ambitious.
• Define clear KPIs: choose metrics that directly inform those objectives. Track them consistently. KPIs can and should be customized to reflect your unique strategy. For example, a company focused on new customer acquisition might track the number of proposals sent to new leads rather than just total revenue, to better reflect early growth efforts.
• Regular check-ins: use frequent, open discussions around progress, keeping both OKRs and KPIs in view.
• Adapt and iterate: adjust your OKRs each quarter based on KPI insights.

Alignment should cascade from company-wide OKRs down to departments, teams, and individuals. Public visibility of everyone’s objectives fosters trust, reduces conflicts, and promotes collaboration, especially across departments.

A checklist for leaders:

1. Audit current metrics: are your KPIs truly strategic or simply habitual? Prioritize what you track, as too many KPIs can dilute attention and reduce clarity. Stick to a focused set of metrics that truly reflect your core strategic goals.
2. Clarify strategic objectives: what breakthrough do you aim for next quarter?
3. Connect KPIs and OKRs: ensure your KPIs feed directly into your OKRs. Metrics should reflect strategy.
4. Engage teams: everyone should see clearly how their work impacts overall objectives.

A KPI-focused business might maintain steady operations but risks complacency. An OKR-driven business, without solid KPIs, risks soaring ambition without foundational stability. Together, these frameworks create a virtuous cycle: strategic ambition guided by measured reality.

Ambition without measurement is blind. Measurement without ambition is meaningless. Organizations that master both move from merely surviving to thriving, transforming everyday performance into lasting success.

Want to go deeper?

Explore GLOBIS Unlimited’s short courses on setting effective OKRs and mastering KPIs to learn how to implement both frameworks effectively in your organization.