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OKR builder

Converts company goals or strategic themes into a well-formed OKR set with 2-4 objectives, 3-5 measurable key results each, baseline-to-target framing, leading vs. lagging indicator balance, and a scoring rubric. Use…

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Purpose

Turn high-level company goals or strategic themes into a rigorously structured OKR set — with objectives that inspire, key results that are genuinely measurable, and a scoring rubric that makes end-of-quarter grading unambiguous. Solves the two most common OKR failures: objectives that are actually tasks, and key results that can't be measured.

When to Use

Invoke this skill when the user asks to:

  • Convert a strategic theme or company goal into OKRs
  • Draft quarterly or annual OKRs for a product team or function
  • Fix vague, task-based, or unmeasurable key results
  • Align team-level OKRs to company-level objectives
  • Set up an OKR scoring or grading system for the quarter
  • Review a draft OKR set for common structural problems

Inputs Required

Before starting, collect:

  • Strategic theme or company goal: The 1-3 priorities this OKR set must serve
  • Team/function: Whose OKRs these are (product, growth, platform, whole company)
  • Time horizon: Quarter, half, or year
  • Current baselines: Where key metrics stand today (activation rate, NRR, MAU, etc.)
  • Known constraints: Headcount, budget, dependencies, or fixed commitments
  • Ambition level: Committed (must-hit) vs. aspirational (moonshot) — or a mix
  • Existing metrics/instrumentation: What is already tracked vs. what would need new measurement

If baselines are missing, flag each key result that needs a baseline before it can be finalized rather than inventing numbers.

Instructions

Step 1: Diagnose the Input

Classify what the user gave you before building anything:

  • Strategic theme ("expand upmarket"): needs decomposition into 2-4 objectives
  • Company goal ("grow ARR to $10M"): already an outcome — build the KR ladder beneath it
  • Draft OKRs to fix: run the anti-pattern check in Step 5 first, then rebuild
  • A list of projects: reframe as outcomes — projects are how, not what OKRs measure

State which case you're in, then proceed.

Step 2: Write the Objectives (2-4)

Each objective is a qualitative, inspiring statement of what to achieve — not how.

  • Test for objective quality: Is it an outcome, not a task? Would the team feel it's worth pursuing? Is it time-bounded to the horizon?
  • Reject objectives that contain a metric (that's a KR), a feature name (that's a project), or "launch/ship/build" (that's activity)
  • Cap at 4 — more than 4 objectives means the team has no priorities
  • Format: a short, memorable phrase a team could rally around

Step 3: Build Key Results (3-5 per objective)

Each KR must answer: "How will we know we achieved the objective?" with a number.

For every key result, specify:

  1. Metric: The measurable quantity
  2. Baseline → Target: Where it is now → where it needs to be (e.g., "Activation rate: 34% → 50%")
  3. Type: Leading (predictive, controllable) or Lagging (outcome, confirms result)
  4. Measurement source: Where the number comes from (analytics tool, CRM, survey)

KR quality rules:

  • Every KR is a number with a direction — no "improve," "increase," or "enhance" without a target
  • Balance leading and lagging: at least one leading indicator per objective so the team gets early signal
  • No binary done/not-done KRs unless truly milestone-based — prefer graded metrics
  • A KR is not a task ("run 3 experiments" is activity; "lift trial-to-paid by 8pts" is a result)

Step 4: Set the Scoring Rubric

Define how each KR is graded at quarter-end on a 0.0–1.0 scale:

  • 0.7–1.0: Delivered or exceeded — for aspirational OKRs, 0.7 is a win
  • 0.4–0.6: Real progress, missed target
  • 0.0–0.3: Little to no progress — signals a planning or execution problem
  • Note per-objective which are committed (expect 1.0) vs. aspirational (0.7 = success)
  • Provide the formula for partial scores: (actual − baseline) / (target − baseline)

Step 5: Anti-Pattern Check

Scan the full set and flag any that appear:

  • Objectives that are disguised tasks or feature launches
  • Key results with no baseline or no numeric target
  • "Sandbagging" — targets that are trivially hit (all leading indicators, no stretch)
  • Too many OKRs (>4 objectives or >5 KRs each) diluting focus
  • KRs that measure output (tickets closed) rather than outcome (retention lifted)
  • Missing measurement source — a KR you can't instrument is not a KR

Step 6: Alignment Note

If team-level, add a short paragraph showing how each objective ladders up to the stated company goal or theme — one line per objective mapping to the parent priority.

Output Format

  • Structure: Objectives as H3 headers; KRs as a table beneath each (Metric | Baseline → Target | Type | Source); scoring rubric and anti-pattern flags as their own sections
  • Length: 700–1,100 words
  • Format: Structured document with tables for key results
  • Sections: Input diagnosis → Objectives with KR tables → Scoring rubric → Anti-pattern flags → Alignment note
  • Tone: Product leadership — decisive, plain-spoken, allergic to vague language

Quality Checklist

Before delivering output, verify:

  • [ ] Objective count is between 2 and 4; each is an outcome, not a task or feature
  • [ ] Every objective has 3–5 key results (count them)
  • [ ] Every KR has a baseline, a numeric target, and a measurement source — or is explicitly flagged as needing a baseline
  • [ ] Each objective has at least one leading indicator, not only lagging metrics
  • [ ] Scoring rubric labels each objective as committed or aspirational
  • [ ] Anti-pattern check has been run and any flags surfaced explicitly

Notes

  • The single most common failure is KRs that are tasks in disguise — if "done" is a yes/no, it's usually a milestone, not a key result
  • For aspirational OKRs, coach the user that hitting 1.0 means the target was too low, not that the quarter was a triumph
  • When baselines don't exist, the highest-value first move is often instrumenting the metric — flag this rather than fabricating a starting number
  • Fewer, sharper OKRs beat comprehensive ones; if the user pushes for 6+ objectives, recommend cutting to the 3 that matter most

How to use this skill

This file is a Claude Code skill in Anthropic's standard format — markdown with YAML frontmatter at the top.

Installing in Claude Code:

  • ~/.claude/skills/<folder-name>/SKILL.md — auto-loads in every session anywhere on your machine (recommended for skills you'll use across multiple projects)
  • <your-project>/.claude/skills/<folder-name>/SKILL.md — auto-loads only when working in that project (recommended for project-specific skills)

Restart Claude Code or open a new session to register.

Using in Claude.ai, ChatGPT, Gemini, or other AI tools:

  1. Drag this file into a new chat, or copy and paste its contents
  2. Send your task or request as your next message — the AI will apply the skill where it fits

For Claude Code skill details: https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/skills