Measure What Matters
How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World With OKRs
By John Doerr
About the book
Venture capitalist John Doerr explains Objectives and Key Results, or OKRs, the goal-setting system he first learned at Intel under Andy Grove as an engineer in the 1970s. In the fall of 1999 he taught it to Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, soon after making the biggest investment of his career in their start-up. Under the system, objectives state what to achieve, key results set specific, measurable actions within a time frame, and everyone's goals are visible across the organization. Doerr argues that OKRs focus effort and connect teams across silos. He later shared the method with more than fifty companies; the book includes case studies told by narrators such as Bono and Bill Gates.
Bill Gates said Doerr shows how OKRs work and how to apply them, and recommended it to anyone who wants to become a better manager. Reid Hoffman endorsed it, and Walter Isaacson praised its case studies and personal stories.
We hope you love the books people recommend! Just so you know, The CEO Library may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page.
This book has 6 recommendations
Bill Gates (Founder/Microsoft)
John explains how OKRs [Objectives and Key Results] work and shows how you can apply them in all sorts of situations.
I’d recommend John’s book for anyone interested in becoming a better manager (and I’d say that even if I hadn’t been interviewed for a super-nice chapter about the Gates Foundation).
Reid Hoffman (CEO/Linkedin)
Whether you're a seasoned CEO or a first-time entrepreneur, you'll find valuable lessons, tools, and inspiration in the pages of Measure What Matters. I'm glad John invested the time to share these ideas with the world.
Jim Collins (Author)
Measure What Matters deserves to be fully embraced by every person responsible for performance, in any walk of life. John Doerr makes Andy Grove a mentor to us all. If every team, leader, and individual applied OKRs with rigor and imagination, all sectors of society could see an exponential increase in productivity and innovation.
Walter Isaacson (Author)
In this indispensable book, the most important venture capitalist of our era reveals a key to business innovation and success. This crisp and colorful book combines fascinating case studies with insightful personal stories to show how OKRs can add magic to organizations of any size.
John Chambers (CEO/Cisco)
Measure What Matters is a gift to every leader or entrepreneur who wants a more transparent, accountable, and effective team. It encourages the kind of big, bold bets that can transform an organization.
Recommended by Alexandra Stroe (Co-CEO/Bookster)
Get this book on Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple Books
See more books recommended by
Bill Gates, Reid Hoffman, Jim Collins, Walter Isaacson, John Chambers, Alexandra Stroe
See more books written by
Often recommended alongside
- Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck (2 shared recommenders)
- Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg and Nell Scovell (2 shared recommenders)
- Being Nixon: A Man Divided by Evan Thomas (2 shared recommenders)
- The Headspace Guide to Meditation and Mindfulness: How Mindfulness Can Change Your Life in Ten Minutes a Day by Andy Puddicombe (2 shared recommenders)