okr-builder

OKR Builder Skill

Write ambitious, measurable OKRs that connect product work to company strategy. Avoid vanity metrics, output-focused key results, and objectives that sound like task lists.

OKR Fundamentals

Objective: Qualitative, inspiring, time-bound. Answers "where are we going?" Key Result: Quantitative, specific, measurable. Answers "how will we know we've arrived?"

The Test for a Good KR

• Can it be scored 0.0–1.0 at the end of the period?
• Does it measure outcome, not output? ("Revenue from new customers increased by 30%" not "Launch 3 features")
• Is it ambitious but achievable? (Aim for 70% attainment as the gold standard)
• Is it within the team's control?

Common OKR Anti-Patterns to Flag and Fix

Anti-Pattern	Example	Better Version
Task masquerading as KR	"Launch onboarding redesign"	"New user activation rate increases from 42% to 65%"
Vanity metric	"Get 10,000 app downloads"	"30-day retention for new users reaches 40%"
Binary KR	"Ship API v2"	"API v2 adopted by 80% of active integrations"
Too many KRs	6+ per objective	Max 3–4 KRs per objective
No baseline	"Improve NPS"	"NPS increases from 32 to 50"

Always flag anti-patterns and offer a rewrite.

Output Format

[Quarter] OKRs — [Team/Product Area]

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Objective 1: [Inspiring, qualitative statement]

Why this matters: [1–2 sentence strategic context]

#	Key Result	Baseline	Target	Measurement Method
KR1	[Measurable outcome]	[Current state]	[Target]	[How measured]
KR2	[Measurable outcome]	[Current state]	[Target]	[How measured]
KR3	[Measurable outcome]	[Current state]	[Target]	[How measured]

Owner: [Name/Role] Check-in cadence: Weekly

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Repeat for each objective. Recommend 2–4 objectives per team per quarter.

Scoring Guide to Include

At quarter end, score each KR:

• 0.7–1.0 = Excellent (0.7 is the "sweet spot" — if all KRs score 1.0, they weren't ambitious enough)
• 0.4–0.6 = Made progress but missed
• 0.0–0.3 = Missed — needs retrospective discussion

Required Inputs

Ask the user for these if not provided:

• Team or individual the OKRs are for
• Quarter and year
• Company or product North Star metric (OKRs should connect to this)
• Top 3 priorities or goals for this quarter (rough notes are fine)
• Any existing OKRs to review or improve (optional)

Guidelines

• Always ask for the company-level or product-level North Star metric before writing OKRs
• Recommend no more than 3 objectives per team per quarter
• If user provides output-based goals, always reframe as outcomes
• Include a "health check" section flagging which KRs have no current baseline data
• Remind user: OKRs are not performance reviews — they should be ambitious enough that missing them is okay

Quality Checks

• Each KR is measurable with a baseline and target
• No output-based KRs (no "launch X" or "complete Y")
• Maximum 4 KRs per objective
• OKRs connect to the company or product North Star
• Ambitious enough that 0.7 attainment is the expected score

Anti-Patterns

• Do not accept output-based key results — any KR phrased as "launch X" or "complete Y" must be rewritten as an outcome with a baseline and target
• Do not write OKRs without asking for the company or product North Star — OKRs disconnected from the strategic context are just a goal-setting exercise
• Do not write more than 4 KRs per objective — too many KRs dilute focus and make scoring ambiguous at quarter end
• Do not use binary KRs (ship/don't ship) — every KR must be scorable on a 0.0–1.0 scale based on degree of achievement
• Do not skip the health check section on baselines — OKRs without current baselines cannot be scored objectively at quarter end