--- name: okr-builder description: "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 when translating strategy into OKRs, drafting quarterly product goals, fixing vague or unmeasurable key results, or aligning team objectives to company priorities." argument-hint: "[strategic-theme] [team]" allowed-tools: ["Read"] --- # OKR Builder ## 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](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/skills) — markdown with YAML frontmatter at the top. **Installing in Claude Code:** - `~/.claude/skills//SKILL.md` — auto-loads in every session anywhere on your machine (recommended for skills you'll use across multiple projects) - `/.claude/skills//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. 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