1 Lateral Thinking OKR example with initiatives

Turn your spreadsheets into OKR dashboards with Tability

Tability is a cheatcode for goal-driven teams. Set perfect OKRs with AI, stay focused on the work that matters.

What are Lateral Thinking OKRs?

The Objective and Key Results (OKR) framework is a simple goal-setting methodology that was introduced at Intel by Andy Grove in the 70s. It became popular after John Doerr introduced it to Google in the 90s, and it's now used by teams of all sizes to set and track ambitious goals at scale.

OKRs are quickly gaining popularity as a goal-setting framework. But, it's not always easy to know how to write your goals, especially if it's your first time using OKRs.

We've tailored a list of OKRs examples for Lateral Thinking to help you. You can look at any of the templates below to get some inspiration for your own goals.

If you want to learn more about the framework, you can read our OKR guide online.

The best tools for writing perfect Lateral Thinking OKRs

Here are 2 tools that can help you draft your OKRs in no time.

Tability AI: to generate OKRs based on a prompt

Tability AI allows you to describe your goals in a prompt, and generate a fully editable OKR template in seconds.

1. Create a Tability account
2. Click on the Generate goals using AI
3. Describe your goals in a prompt
4. Get your fully editable OKR template
5. Publish to start tracking progress and get automated OKR dashboards

Watch the video below to see it in action 👇

Tability Feedback: to improve existing OKRs

You can use Tability's AI feedback to improve your OKRs if you already have existing goals.

1. Create your Tability account
2. Add your existing OKRs (you can import them from a spreadsheet)
3. Click on Generate analysis
4. Review the suggestions and decide to accept or dismiss them
5. Publish to start tracking progress and get automated OKR dashboards

Tability will scan your OKRs and offer different suggestions to improve them. This can range from a small rewrite of a statement to make it clearer to a complete rewrite of the entire OKR.

Lateral Thinking OKRs examples

We've added many examples of Lateral Thinking Objectives and Key Results, but we did not stop there. Understanding the difference between OKRs and projects is important, so we also added examples of strategic initiatives that relate to the OKRs.

Hope you'll find this helpful!

OKRs to excel academically, maintaining perfect scores, and augment intelligence

ObjectiveExcel academically, maintaining perfect scores, and augment intelligence
KRObtain an A grade in every class through diligent study and preparation
Participate actively and ask questions in class
Prepare extensively for all tests and assignments
Review and understand class materials daily
KRParticipate in extracurricular activities and clubs to promote lateral thinking
Identify and join school/corporate clubs focusing on creative brainstorming activities
Attend workshops on lateral thinking techniques
Engage in group projects for shared problem-solving experiences
KRSuccessfully complete all assignments and projects before deadlines with excellence
Develop a daily plan prioritizing assignments based on deadlines and complexity
Allocate sufficient time to thoroughly review and revise completed work
Use productivity tools to manage and track progress towards meeting deadlines

Use template

Lateral Thinking OKR best practices

Generally speaking, your objectives should be ambitious yet achievable, and your key results should be measurable and time-bound (using the SMART framework can be helpful). It is also recommended to list strategic initiatives under your key results, as it'll help you avoid the common mistake of listing projects in your KRs.

Here are a couple of best practices extracted from our OKR implementation guide 👇

Tip #1: Limit the number of key results

Having too many OKRs is the #1 mistake that teams make when adopting the framework. The problem with tracking too many competing goals is that it will be hard for your team to know what really matters.

We recommend having 3-4 objectives, and 3-4 key results per objective. A platform like Tability can run audits on your data to help you identify the plans that have too many goals.

Tip #2: Commit to weekly OKR check-ins

Setting good goals can be challenging, but without regular check-ins, your team will struggle to make progress. We recommend that you track your OKRs weekly to get the full benefits from the framework.

Being able to see trends for your key results will also keep yourself honest.

Tip #3: No more than 2 yellow statuses in a row

Yes, this is another tip for goal-tracking instead of goal-setting (but you'll get plenty of OKR examples above). But, once you have your goals defined, it will be your ability to keep the right sense of urgency that will make the difference.

As a rule of thumb, it's best to avoid having more than 2 yellow/at risk statuses in a row.

Make a call on the 3rd update. You should be either back on track, or off track. This sounds harsh but it's the best way to signal risks early enough to fix things.

Save hours with automated OKR dashboards

The rules of OKRs are simple. Quarterly OKRs should be tracked weekly, and yearly OKRs should be tracked monthly. Reviewing progress periodically has several advantages:

It brings the goals back to the top of the mind
It will highlight poorly set OKRs
It will surface execution risks
It improves transparency and accountability

Most teams should start with a spreadsheet if they're using OKRs for the first time. Then, you can move to Tability to save time with automated OKR dashboards, data connectors, and actionable insights.

How to get Tability dashboards:

1. Create a Tability account
2. Use the importers to add your OKRs (works with any spreadsheet or doc)
3. Publish your OKR plan

That's it! Tability will instantly get access to 10+ dashboards to monitor progress, visualise trends, and identify risks early.

More Lateral Thinking OKR templates

We have more templates to help you draft your team goals and OKRs.

1 OKR example for Lateral Thinking