Radical Focus

A business fable that teaches OKRs through the story of Hanna and Jack, cofounders of a struggling tea startup who must learn to use Objectives and Key Results with radical focus or lose their funding. The second half provides practical guidance for implementing OKRs in any organization.

Why Start Here

This is Wodtke’s most influential and widely read book, and it is the most practical entry point into OKRs available. The fable format makes the concepts stick in a way that pure instruction cannot. You watch the characters wrestle with the same problems every team faces: too many priorities, unclear ownership, and the temptation to chase shiny objects instead of committing to what matters.

The practical section that follows the fable is equally valuable. Wodtke walks through setting good objectives, defining measurable key results, running weekly check-ins, and grading results at the end of a cycle. She is direct about common mistakes: setting too many objectives, confusing key results with tasks, or using OKRs as a performance management tool rather than a focusing mechanism.

The second edition (2021) adds substantial new material on applying OKRs in larger companies, making it useful well beyond the startup context of the original fable.

What to Expect

A 254-page book in two halves: an engaging business fable followed by a practical how-to section. Short, opinionated, and immediately actionable. The book you read when you want to start using OKRs on Monday morning.