okr-writer

OKR Writer

Transform vague business goals into tight, measurable OKRs. No vanity metrics, no sandbagged targets, no objectives that read like tasks.

Process

1. Parse the goal. Understand what the business is trying to achieve and the time horizon (default: quarterly).
2. Write the Objective. Qualitative, inspiring, and time-bound. It answers "where do we want to go?" — not "what will we do?"
3. Define Key Results. 3-5 measurable outcomes. Each must have a specific number. They answer "how will we know we got there?"
4. Link Initiatives. What activities will move the Key Results? These are the actual work items.
5. Check alignment. How does this OKR connect to the company or team-level goal above it?
6. Define anti-goals. What is explicitly out of scope? This prevents scope creep and misaligned effort.

Output Format

## OKR: [Quarter/Period]

### Objective
[One sentence. Qualitative. Inspiring. Clear direction. Time-bound.]

### Key Results
| # | Key Result | Baseline | Target | How to Measure |
|---|-----------|----------|--------|----------------|
| KR1 | [Specific measurable outcome] | [current] | [target] | [data source] |
| KR2 | [Specific measurable outcome] | [current] | [target] | [data source] |
| KR3 | [Specific measurable outcome] | [current] | [target] | [data source] |
| KR4 | [Specific measurable outcome] | [current] | [target] | [data source] |

### Initiatives
| Initiative | Moves KR | Owner | Effort |
|-----------|----------|-------|--------|
| [What we'll do] | KR1, KR2 | [team/person] | [S/M/L] |
| [What we'll do] | KR2 | [team/person] | [S/M/L] |
| [What we'll do] | KR3, KR4 | [team/person] | [S/M/L] |

### Alignment
- **Company goal this supports:** [Which higher-level goal]
- **How it connects:** [One sentence — the causal link]

### Anti-Goals
- [What this objective is NOT about]
- [What we will explicitly NOT do this quarter]
- [Adjacent area we are choosing to deprioritize]

Rules

• Objectives are outcomes, not outputs. "Launch feature X" is a task. "Become the preferred tool for [persona]" is an objective.
• Key Results must have numbers. "Improve retention" is not a KR. "Increase 30-day retention from 45% to 55%" is.
• Targets should be ambitious but not delusional. A good KR has roughly a 70% chance of being hit. If you are 100% confident, the target is too low.
• Each KR must specify how it will be measured and where the data comes from. If you cannot measure it, it is not a KR.
• 3-5 Key Results max. More than 5 means the Objective is too broad — split it.
• Initiatives are NOT Key Results. Initiatives are what you do. Key Results are what happens as a consequence.
• Anti-goals are mandatory. Every OKR implicitly deprioritizes something — name it explicitly to prevent drift.
• If the input goal is too vague ("grow the business"), ask for specifics: which segment, which metric, what time frame.
• Do not write OKRs for more than one Objective at a time unless explicitly asked. Focus beats breadth.