7 OKR Mistakes That Kill Company Goals in 2026

Google uses OKRs. Intel used OKRs. Therefore, if we use OKRs, we'll be like Google and Intel.

Right?

Wrong.

Most OKR programs fail within 18 months. The spreadsheet goes stale. The quarterly reviews become check-box exercises. People stop caring. Goals become wallpaper.

It's not that OKRs don't work. It's that they're implemented badly.

After introducing OKRs to hundreds of organizations through the framework in Resolute, I've cataloged the mistakes that kill goal programs. Here are the seven deadliest—and how to avoid them.

Mistake #1: Too Many Objectives

The symptom: Each team has 5-7 objectives with 4-5 key results each. That's 20-35 things to track per team per quarter.

Why it happens: Leaders want to capture everything important. Every priority gets an objective. Every initiative gets a key result.

The result: Nothing gets priority because everything is priority. Teams spread attention thin. Progress is shallow across all objectives rather than deep on any.

The fix: 3-5 objectives per organization. 2-3 per team. Each with 2-4 key results.

If you can't choose, you haven't done the strategic work. OKRs don't replace strategy—they express it. Lack of OKR focus reveals lack of strategic clarity.

As I wrote in Resolute: "The most important word in strategy is 'No.'" That applies to OKRs too.

Mistake #2: Key Results That Aren't Measurable

The symptom: Key results like:

• "Improve customer experience"
• "Launch new product features"
• "Build better processes"
• "Strengthen team culture"

Why it happens: It's easier to write aspirational statements than measurable outcomes. Measurement requires commitment to specific numbers.

The result: At quarter's end, nobody knows if the key result was achieved. "Did we improve customer experience?" becomes a subjective debate rather than an objective assessment.

The fix: Every key result needs a number:

• "Increase NPS from 35 to 50"
• "Ship 5 new features to production"
• "Reduce process cycle time from 14 days to 7 days"
• "Achieve 80% positive response on culture survey"

If you can't measure it, it's not a key result—it's a hope.

Mistake #3: OKRs as Task Lists

The symptom: Key results that describe activities, not outcomes:

• "Complete the marketing rebrand"
• "Hire 3 new engineers"
• "Attend 5 industry conferences"
• "Implement new CRM system"

Why it happens: Activities are concrete and controllable. Outcomes are uncertain. It feels safer to commit to what you'll do than what will happen.

The result: Teams complete all activities and still fail to achieve the outcome. "We did everything on the list, but revenue didn't grow." The output was there; the outcome wasn't.

The fix: Ask "So what?" after every key result.

"Complete the marketing rebrand." So what? → "Increase brand awareness by 40%"

"Hire 3 new engineers." So what? → "Increase development velocity by 30%"

"Implement new CRM system." So what? → "Reduce customer response time from 24 hours to 4 hours"

The "so what" is the key result. The activity is just how you get there.

Mistake #4: No Alignment Between Levels

The symptom: Company OKRs say one thing. Department OKRs say something else. Team OKRs go in a third direction.

Why it happens: Each level sets OKRs independently. Company sets OKRs in the executive retreat. Departments set theirs in planning sessions. Teams set theirs based on what they think matters.

The result: Effort disperses. Teams work hard on goals that don't advance company objectives. Success at one level creates failure at another.

The fix: Cascade intentionally.

1. Company sets 3-5 objectives
2. Each objective has 2-4 key results
3. Department objectives should directly support company key results
4. Team objectives should directly support department key results

The connection should be explicit:

• "This team objective supports Company KR2: Increase customer retention to 95%"

If a team objective doesn't connect to company OKRs, question whether it belongs.

Mistake #5: Set and Forget

The symptom: OKRs set in January. Reviewed in... maybe March? Definitely by June. Okay, actually at the December planning meeting when we set next year's.

Why it happens: The urgent crowds out the important. OKR reviews feel like administrative overhead. "We know what we're working on—why do we need to review?"

The result: OKRs become historical artifacts. Work diverges from stated goals. At quarter's end, there's a scramble to connect actual accomplishments to forgotten objectives.

The fix: Implement OKR rhythm:

Weekly (5 minutes per team):

• Update key result progress numbers
• Flag blockers
• Note confidence level

Monthly (30 minutes per team):

• Review all objectives
• Discuss blockers in depth
• Adjust tactics if needed
• Celebrate progress

Quarterly (half day):

• Grade completed OKRs
• Set new OKRs
• Learn from what didn't work
• Realign as conditions change

OKRs without rhythm become poetry—nice words that don't change behavior.

Mistake #6: Punishing Ambitious Failure

The symptom: Key results are consistently 100% achieved. Every quarter. Every team.

Why it happens: Leaders tie OKRs to performance reviews. Performance reviews affect compensation. Ambitious goals become career risk.

The result: Sandbagging. Teams set easily achievable key results. 70% achievement (the OKR ideal) feels like failure when bonuses depend on 100%.

The fix: Decouple OKRs from performance compensation.

OKRs measure organizational progress, not individual performance. Google famously achieved only 60-70% of OKRs—because they set ambitious goals.

If you're achieving 100% of OKRs, you're not aiming high enough.

Reward effort and learning, not just achievement. Celebrate ambitious failures that teach more than safe successes.

Mistake #7: OKRs in Isolation

The symptom: OKRs exist in their own system—disconnected from the work that achieves them.

• Goals in a spreadsheet (or Lattice or 15Five)
• Tasks in Asana (or Monday or ClickUp)
• Discussions in Slack
• Documents in Google Drive
• Email threads elsewhere

Why it happens: OKRs were adopted as a framework, not a workflow. The goal-setting tool doesn't know about the project management tool.

The result: OKRs and work diverge. Tasks complete that don't advance key results. Key results stall while teams stay busy. Nobody connects daily work to quarterly goals.

The fix: Integrate OKRs into work systems.

Best case: Use a platform where goals, tasks, documents, and communication coexist. Completing a task automatically updates the key result it supports.

Next best: Explicitly link projects to OKRs. Every project should have an "OKR this supports" field. Every task rollup should show OKR impact.

When OKRs and work live in different worlds, they serve different masters.

The Meta-Mistake: OKRs as Silver Bullet

Behind all seven mistakes lies a deeper error: expecting OKRs to solve problems they weren't designed to solve.

OKRs can:

• Create focus on what matters
• Align teams toward common outcomes
• Make progress visible
• Enable informed resource allocation

OKRs cannot:

• Fix strategic confusion (use the 7 Questions)
• Replace good management
• Create commitment through spreadsheets alone
• Succeed without organizational buy-in

OKRs are a lens for clarity, not a magic solution.

How Successful Organizations Use OKRs

The organizations that succeed with OKRs share common patterns:

1. Executive Sponsorship

A senior leader owns OKR success. Not HR. Not Operations. An executive who connects goals to strategy.

2. Simple Start

Begin with company-level OKRs only. Add department OKRs after one quarter. Add team OKRs after two. Complexity grows with capability.

3. Integrated Tools

OKRs live where work happens. Progress updates naturally from completed work. Alignment is visible in the same system.

4. Psychological Safety

Teams can aim high and fall short without career consequences. Learning is valued over achievement.

5. Iteration Mindset

First OKRs aren't perfect. That's expected. Each quarter improves on the last. Progress beats perfection.

The OKR Diagnostic

Score your organization on each factor:

35-70: Strong OKR program 20-35: Room for improvement Below 20: Significant risk of failure

Starting Fresh

If your OKR program is struggling, don't abandon the framework. Reset the implementation.

This quarter:

1. Reduce to 3 company objectives
2. Ensure every key result has a number
3. Establish weekly 5-minute updates
4. Connect every objective to a strategic priority

Next quarter:

1. Add department-level OKRs
2. Create explicit alignment links
3. Implement monthly reviews
4. Begin grading and learning rhythm

Quarter 3:

1. Add team-level OKRs
2. Integrate with project tools
3. Evaluate tool consolidation
4. Celebrate ambitious failures

OKRs work when implemented thoughtfully. Most organizations just haven't been thoughtful yet.

---

Want OKRs that actually work? See our OKR examples for different industries or learn how to track OKRs without spreadsheets.