Pause for Impact

Pause for Impact

I’d like to talk about how OKRs relate to a healthy workplace and contribute to a vibrant community.

Fairness, equity, and social responsibility are topics on a lot of people’s minds. And at What Matters, we suggest incorporating something called The Pause into your OKR-setting process to do justice to them.

OKRs for Inclusion and Impact

OKRs shape your organization and its culture. They embody your top priorities and the things that you want to change.

Diversity, inclusion, and responsibility matter. These are just a few examples of issues that can be addressed by OKRs.

But if you fail to take this step to pause and to reflect, you run the risk of having your organization set priorities that unintentionally reinforce damaging practices or perpetuate inequitable systems.

Could you add a Key Result or adjust an Objective to not just avoid that behavior -– but to change it? Ask yourself:

• Are we doing the right thing?
• Do your organization and team priorities benefit everybody? Your customers? Your stakeholders? Your employees? Your community?
• Or will they reinforce exclusionary or harmful assumptions?

We find that The Pause facilitates frank discussions about an organization’s impact on the world, both intended and unintended.

We learned to incorporate The Pause from the team at Creative Reaction Lab. It was originally created by a group called the 228 Accelerator as part of their equityXdesign framework. The idea is to add a moment of reflection to your OKR-writing process by purposefully and consciously pausing.

You know, it’s a common misconception that the process of writing OKRs needs to be some sort of fast-paced race to set your priorities and then run with them.

Yes, the process needs to be swift. But it also needs to be thoughtful.
If you move so quickly that you leave people out, you may miss or silence perspectives, which ends up being counterproductive.

Invite and ask questions of the whole team

When you consult a broad range of voices and invite alternatives into your OKR process, it won’t just fortify the OKRs. It will help strengthen your entire organization as well.

Here are some OKR-specific questions you can ask of yourself and your team:

• Have you heard from all stakeholders during the OKR process?
• Did everyone have an opportunity to lend their voice to your goal setting?
• Who’s missing from the process?
• Was there any group, perspective, or person left out?
• Is it possible that you drafted an Objective or a Key Result that reinforces something in your culture you need to change?
• And did people have the opportunity to point out that possibility?

OKRs aim to make changes you’re hoping to see in your organization.

As we think about what’s most important and how we want to orient our efforts, let’s improve ourselves and our organizations along the way.