How can someone from the Humanities, who carries in their personality all the stereotypes of the area, also be so systematic, meticulous, and disciplined? That's me. And imagine my happiness when I discovered Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) when I joined the Bem Maior Movement a little over 3 years ago! A fabulous encounter.
Until then, I had a vague idea of what OKRs were, an acronym from the agile culture universe, the innovation environment of startups, a cult methodology from Silicon Valley. Period. Imagine my surprise when I arrived at MBM, a newly formed social organization, proposing to work with this methodology. I was intrigued!
Bia Waclawek 's mission upon arriving at MBM was the same: Social Investments . It was her suggestion to work with this tool. The idea was presented to the board, who accepted the challenge. We ran the pilot program for a year. Imagine how challenging and, at the same time, fruitful that year was!
The results of the experiment were so positive that we embraced OKRs and, since then, they have remained our official management methodology.
When I say that, for me, it was a fabulous encounter, it's because this methodology – created more than 50 years ago by Andrew Grove and popularized by John Doerr – provides me with organization, objectivity, transparency, efficiency… but with flexibility, autonomy, and freedom that, together, allow me to be the best version of myself as a "ruled-artist" while working as a manager.
I
clearly remember the first meetings where there were many fears and doubts about how to adapt OKRs to our reality. The whole process was done collectively, involving everyone from the board of directors to the grassroots teams. There were many debates, impasses, agreements, and even a certain skepticism about what was to come.
Everyone participated, got involved, and took ownership of the processes. We could have hired a consultancy at the beginning, but we understood that, first, we should take ownership, immerse ourselves, and experience firsthand, through the challenges and victories, what it would really be like. Once we were more seasoned, we sought opinions and exchanged experiences with experts.
Statement:
And what I can say is that, throughout the first year of testing OKRs, it felt like magic was happening. Objectives achieved, deadlines met, time to experiment, make mistakes, correct them, and test again… ultimately resulting in excellent deliverables. I was surprised and, each day, more excited to move forward.
With OKRs firmly established at the heart of our management, we move forward in cycles of review and implementation of improvements, including, for example, the adoption of the RACI Matrix to facilitate the execution of objectives among the team or the use of SCRUM tools in quarterly work cycles.
Exploring these possibilities in a social innovation environment and increasingly reaping the positive results has been an enriching experience. Currently, I cannot imagine managing MBM without the powerful assistance of OKRs, which provoke and encourage the team to dream big and be bold in its mission.
">
