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Goals and measures

OKR vs KPI: the map and the dashboard

Both use numbers, both get put on slides, and both are often confused for each other. But they answer two different questions. One tells you whether things are healthy. The other tells you where you are trying to go. About 7 minutes to read.

📟KPIKey Performance Indicator. A number you watch all the time to check that the business is healthy.
🗺️OKRObjectives and Key Results. A short-term goal for something you want to change, plus the numbers that prove you changed it.
🔁TogetherA KPI going wrong is often the reason to set an OKR. A finished OKR often leaves behind a new KPI to watch.
🧪Quick test"If we hit this, is anything different from today?" Yes: OKR. No, it just means we are still fine: KPI.
Part 1

The big idea: a dashboard and a map

Picture a long drive from Singapore to Penang. You need two very different things in the car.

KPIs are like a car dashboard, OKRs are like the map to a destination KPIs: the dashboard OKRs: the map 90 Speed ¾ Fuel OK Engine temp Always on. You glance at it all trip. You only act when a needle leaves the safe zone. It never tells you where to go. Singapore Penang by Friday Melaka by noon ✓ KL by 6pm Set once for this trip. A clear finish line. The stops along the way prove you are on track. When you arrive, you pick a new destination.
You need both. A perfect dashboard on a car going nowhere is useless. A great destination with an overheating engine ends badly.

The one-line version

KPIs keep the lights on. OKRs move you somewhere new.

Part 2

Side by side

KPI

Key Performance Indicator

"Are we healthy?"

  • A single measure you track continuously.
  • Has a normal range or threshold.
  • Lives for years, not quarters.
  • Usually owned by one team or role.
  • Missing it means: investigate and fix.
OKR

Objectives and Key Results

"What are we changing?"

  • Objective: a short, inspiring statement of where you want to be.
  • Key Results: 2 to 4 numbers that prove you got there.
  • Lives for one cycle, usually a quarter.
  • Shared across teams on purpose.
  • Missing it means: learn and reset.
KPIOKR
PurposeMonitor performanceDrive improvement
Time frameOngoingA fixed cycle, often 3 months
TargetStay inside a healthy rangeReach a stretch target, from a known baseline
How manyAs many as you need to run the businessFew: 1 to 3 objectives per team
Success looks like"Nothing to see here""We are not where we were"
Hitting 70%Usually a problemUsually a good result for a stretch goal
ExampleWebsite uptime stays above 99.9%Objective: make checkout effortless. KR: cut checkout drop-off from 40% to 25%
Part 3

How they work together

OKRs and KPIs are not rivals. They hand work to each other in a loop.

The loop between KPIs and OKRs 1. Watch KPIs on the dashboard 2. Spot a gap A KPI slips, or the bar needs raising 3. Set an OKR Focus effort for a quarter to fix it 4. New normal Hand it back as a KPI at the new level and the dashboard keeps watching Example: support replies used to take 2 hours. Now they take 9. The KPI raises the alarm, the OKR does the fixing, the KPI keeps it fixed.
A KPI tells you that something needs attention. An OKR is how you give it focused attention for a while.

Health metrics belong next to OKRs. When you push hard on one number, others can quietly suffer. Teams often list a few KPIs as "guardrails" beside their OKRs: "grow sign-ups, while keeping refund rate under 3%".

Part 4

One team, both tools

An online shop's customer support team, this quarter.

KPIs: always watched
  • First reply time under 4 hours ✓ 2.5h
  • Tickets older than 7 days: fewer than 20 ✓ 12
  • Customer satisfaction (CSAT) above 80% ✗ 74%

Two are fine and need no project. CSAT has slipped for two months, so it needs focused work.

OKR: this quarter

Objective: Customers leave every conversation feeling looked after.

  • KR1: Raise CSAT from 74% to 88%
  • KR2: Cut customers who contact us twice about the same issue from 22% to 10%
  • KR3: Resolve 60% of tickets in the first reply, up from 35%

If it works, CSAT goes back on the dashboard with a new threshold of 85%.

Not sure what CSAT is? The OKR cheat sheet explains it, along with NPS.

Part 5

Common mix-ups

Renaming the dashboard "OKRs"."KR: keep uptime at 99.9%" is a KPI in disguise. Fix: if you are not trying to change it, keep it on the dashboard.
Writing tasks as Key Results."Launch the new help centre" is work, not a result. Fix: ask what the launch should change, and measure that, such as "cut how-to tickets by 30%".
Too many OKRs.Twelve objectives means no focus at all. Fix: 1 to 3 objectives per team, 2 to 4 Key Results each.
Tying OKRs to bonuses.People stop setting brave targets when pay depends on hitting them. Fix: reward on KPIs and behaviour, use OKRs to learn and stretch.
No baseline."Increase NPS to 40" means little if you do not know where you started. Fix: always write "from X to Y".

The 10-second test

Is it a KPI?It would be on a dashboard even if nobody was working on it. Hitting it means things are still OK.
Is it an OKR?It has a deadline and a starting point. Hitting it means something is now better than before.

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