In chat, I asked, “Is OKR a top-down decision?” The topic was “Is OKR a top-down decision? Measure What Matters] says that except for emergencies, it is better to have half top-down and half bottom-up.
bottom-up OKRs increase employees’ sense of responsibility and encourage engagement (active engagement) and innovation in their work.
- P.33
Our goal is bottom-up. To elicit organizational and individual will, let them decide almost half of the OKRs themselves, in consultation with their supervisors. If all goals are set top-down, motivation will be discouraged
- P.57 - independence
In a well-functioning organization, the relationship between top-down and bottom-up goals, or aligned and unaligned OKRs, changes freely. When there is a pressing management issue and the top priority is to “solve it anyway,” the organization becomes conveying the will of the governing to the governed. On the other hand, when performance is strong and the organization has become somewhat timid and rigid, it may be right to loosen the reins. If leaders are sensitive to the changing needs of the company and its employees, the ratio of top-down to bottom-up goals is usually 50-50. That, in my opinion, is the proper state of affairs.
- P.134
- Related: Management in Ordinary Times.
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