# OKRs vs. KPIs

Here's a question that comes up in every growing company: How do you know if you're winning?

Most teams reach for OKRs (objectives & key results) as their answer. They're the shiny new framework that promises to align everyone around bold goals and measurable outcomes. And they work—when used correctly.

But here's what happens in practice. Someone suggests "don't release any new bugs" as an objective. It sounds reasonable. Quality matters, right? Except there's a guaranteed way to achieve that objective: stop releasing software entirely. Congratulations, you've just incentivized your team to do nothing.

This is where most OKR implementations go sideways. Teams try to cram every important metric into the OKR framework, like forcing a square peg into a round hole. The result? Watered-down objectives that miss the entire point.

OKRs should be fail-by-default. They should require you to change something fundamental about how you operate. Sitting on your laurels and playing defense shouldn't be an option. If you can achieve your OKR by maintaining the status quo, you're doing it wrong.

But wait—what about all those metrics that matter but don't fit the OKR mold? Code quality, site uptime, conversion rates, user retention. These aren't things you're necessarily trying to change right now, but ignore them at your peril.

That's what KPIs are for.

If OKRs are your compass pointing toward new territory, KPIs are your instrument panel making sure the engine doesn't explode on the journey. You need both.

KPIs are metrics that matter, but aren't your current focus for change. They're the vital signs of your business. You watch them the way a pilot watches altitude—not because you're trying to change them every moment, but because a sudden drop means something's gone very wrong.

The beauty of this system is its flexibility. Today's passive KPI can become tomorrow's active OKR. When your conversion rate KPI starts trending down from 5% to 3%, it transforms. The metric you were monitoring becomes the objective you're chasing: "Double conversion rate by August."

This transformation is crucial. It prevents the common mistake of trying to optimize everything at once. You can't sprint in every direction—that's just running in circles.

So here's the simple framework: Use KPIs to keep watch. Use OKRs to drive change.

Your KPIs tell you what's happening. Your OKRs tell you what's next.