I was first introduced to OKRs while reading the book Inspired by Marty Cagan. At that time, as part of my entrepreneurial journey, I was trying to implement a product management strategy. Although I knew OKRs were used as a goal-setting tool at Google, I had never worked with them before. The moment I came across the concept, I was immediately hooked and wanted to understand it better.
That curiosity led me to Measure What Matters by John Doerr, the legendary venture capitalist from Kleiner Perkins, who helped bring Andy Grove’s original idea from Intel to the rest of the world.
Being someone who loves to get things done, I was excited by what OKRs promised: alignment with a clear vision, sharper focus, stretch goals, and a way to measure real progress. I tried to learn the OKR process properly and implement it in my venture, and I was genuinely inspired by the results.
So when Measure What Matters | OKR Resources launched an OKR certification on Coursera, I immediately enrolled. It took a while to complete, but eventually I finished it — and I was truly happy about this achievement. I wanted to share it because OKRs didn’t just remain a concept for me; they became a part of how I move my life forward and how I set personal goals today.
Along this journey of learning OKRs, I also read Radical Focus by Christina Wodtke and Objectives and Key Results by Paul R. Niven and Ben Lamorte. I’m grateful to all of them for writing such useful, practical books.
This certification and the reading that came with it still remain close to my heart. It shaped how I think about goals, focus, and progress — not just in work, but in life.
