OKR Expert Interview: Sten Pittet Turns the Tables on Sara To Talk No-BS OKRs

This is a bit unconventional ... but today, the host of Thinkydoers is the guest!

Please welcome Sten Pittet, Co-Founder and CEO of Tability, a collaboration platform for outcome-driven teams, as this week’s Guest Host of Thinkydoers … with OKR Coach and creator of No-BS OKRs (and Thinkydoer’s host) Sara Lobkovich in the hot seat!

If you're a regular listener you might be thinking:

"WTF? A platform guest?!"

But hear me out. Sten is with a platform... and he's also a Thinkydoer. We've been in touch here and there for almost a year now, and when he asked during our last chat if he could interview me for a podcast episode ... I just couldn't pass up the chance to answer questions from another pro in my network.

Today's episode is part one of a two-part series. Here, Sten asks me the questions he's been waiting to ask me while a recording is rolling ever since our first chat. 

We touch on my own journey with OKRs, including how they've shaped my career and practice, some of the challenges organizations encounter when trying to implement them, and my unique No-BS OKRs approach, which focuses in efficiency and simplicity.

Sten also makes a great plug (unsolicited!) for my No-BS OKRs Workbook, which is currently available as a PDF download from https://findrc.co/pdfworkbook (USD) or https://findrc.co/pdfwkbkAUD (AUD) and will be available in print later this fall, along with my first full-length release: You Are A Strategist: Using No-BS Objectives and Key Results To Get Big Things Done. 

Come back next week for part two of the series, when I get to turn the tables and ask Sten about his Thinkydoer career, which took him from development into product management, and now into the CEO and founder role; and, about why and how Tability came to be. 

Episode Highlights

• Sara’s Journey with OKRs: From an individual contributor struggling with unclear expectations to an executive leader and consultant, Sara shares how setting measurable goals transformed her work satisfaction and effectiveness.
• Challenges with OKRs: Discussion of why OKRs can be challenging to implement, particularly when leaders do not model the practice.
• No-BS OKRs Approach: Sara explains her “No-BS OKRs” approach, focusing on simplicity and practicality, and the development of her No-BS OKRs Workbook.
• Upcoming Book: “You Are A Strategist” Sara talks about her upcoming book, which aims to help individuals discover their inner strategist and use OKRs as a tool for career success.

Common Questions

• What are OKRs? OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are a goal-setting framework that helps organizations align their efforts and measure progress.
• Why are OKRs challenging to implement? OKRs can be challenging because there is no single "standard" or set of "rules" for implementing them; and also, when leaders do not model the practice or invest time in learning the framework.
• What is the No-BS OKRs approach? A pragmatic approach to OKRs that focuses on simplicity, efficiency, and usefulness to facilitate learning and improvement toward higher performance.
• How can OKRs benefit my career? OKRs help fill information gaps so you can spend less time mind-reading and more time focused on what's most important. They also help teams align work to important goals, and provide a shared definition of success for teams to aim for.

Notable Quotes

• “My whole life as an individual contributor was trying to learn how to read minds because I just, I don’t know if some people can figure out what’s expected or if some people are less sensitive to that. And so they just kind of work to their inner compass, but I really struggled to understand what was expected.” - Sara Lobkovich, Creator, No-BS OKRs

• “I fundamentally believe that every person listening to this podcast is a potential future CEO. That’s just how I approach everyone I work with.” - Sara Lobkovich, Creator, No-BS OKRs

• “OKRs sometimes get brought in by the people just like Agile, you know, just like Scrum. And so sometimes the methodology comes in within the organization, but a lot of times OKRs come in through the C-suite or come in through the executives with a model of ‘I want more performance from our team.’” - Sara Lobkovich, Creator, No-BS OKRs

• “When we have leaders that model those behaviors, that’s when implementations tend to be really successful, because then that’s when people in the organization see this is beneficial for me because it fills in my information gaps. It makes it easier for me to align my work to what’s important. I can be more successful.” - Sara Lobkovich, Creator, No-BS OKRs

• “I wanted [The No-BS OKRs Workbook] to be a simple, useful way for anyone, even if they’ve never heard of an OKR before, to sit down and have support and scaffolding to walk through the steps of OKR creation for the first time.” - Sara Lobkovich, Creator, No-BS OKRs

• “I know I am my best when I am telling the absolute truth, when I get to just call it like I see it and be honest and unfiltered and -- kind, always -- but direct and honest.” - Sara Lobkovich, Creator, No-BS OKRs

Sten’s Links and Resources

• Tability Website
• Sten Pettit on LinkedIn

Sara's Links and Resources

• The No-BS OKRs Workbook, currently available as a PDF download from https://findrc.co/pdfworkbook (USD) or https://findrc.co/pdfwkbkAUD (AUD)
• Join the Launch Squad for Sara's Upcoming Books: You Are A Strategist and the No-BS OKRs Workbook
• Join Sara's Email Newsletter
• Email Sara at [email protected]
• Download: No-BS OKRs In A Box one sheet
• Virtual OKR Consult: Start your personalized virtual OKR consult
• Other Free No-BS OKRs Resources: Access all free resources
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