Session Speaker: Lawrence Walsh, Managing Director, There Be Giants Ltd
Theme: Business Planning & Development
Date: Autumn Trimester , October 2024
That’s how Lawrence Walsh opened his session , a session that didn’t introduce a framework so much as strip one back. This was a conversation about OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), but not in the Silicon Valley sense of moonshots and dashboards. Lawrence’s focus was something more grounded: using OKRs to give teams clarity, autonomy, and direction.
He contrasted OKRs with KPIs: - KPIs measure performance, often looking backward - OKRs are about change, a way to align people around the future you want to create.
This landed with force in the room. Many SME leaders are stuck in a cycle of monitoring and reporting, not because they love bureaucracy but because they’re trying to stay in control. Lawrence’s message was simple: clarity beats control.
Lawrence broke down an OKR into two questions: - Objective: What challenge or opportunity are we going after, and why does it matter? - Key Results: How will we know if we’re making progress?
Good objectives are qualitative, significant, and motivating. They’re not task lists. Good key results are measurable, specific, and outcome-focused. Done well, OKRs become a live part of how a business grows, not a box-ticking exercise.
He shared this example from the session:
Objective: We’ve grown our business and delighted our customers by diversifying our portfolio.
Key Result 1: Increase revenue from new markets from £0 to £3m
Key Result 2: Grow market share in new regions from 2% to over 5%
Key Result 3: Improve NPS from 23 to over 40
Perhaps the most powerful part of Lawrence’s talk came when he reframed empowerment. It’s not something you give people by saying the word. It’s something they feel when they know where they’re going and are trusted to get there.
That shift, from task management to trust management, is at the heart of how OKRs work. They’re not about handing over the wheel, they’re about making sure everyone is steering in the same direction.
For many in the room, this was a wake-up call. A strategy isn’t a secret plan. It’s a shared map and OKRs, when implemented properly, are one of the clearest ways to draw that map in public.
Questions to think with:
1. Where in your business have you defaulted to KPIs when OKRs might serve you better?
2. If someone on your team had to explain your current strategy in 30 seconds, could they?
3. What would change if your team viewed strategy as theirs to act on, not just yours to direct?