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Beyond OKRs: How the OHL Framework Can Drive Real Innovation with Radhika Dutt
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Are your OKRs and KPIs actually holding your team back? In this episode of the Growth Hacking Culture podcast, we challenge the traditional approach to goal setting with Radhika Dutt, author of "Radical Product Thinking." Radhika argues that our obsession with traditional performance metrics is deeply flawed and actively damages our products and culture. We explore why these systems, which were revolutionary in the 1940s, are failing modern, complex businesses and leading to "performance theater" instead of true innovation.
The conversation delves into the history of goal-setting, tracing its roots back to Peter Drucker's management by objectives in the 1940s. This approach was designed for an era of unskilled labor working on assembly lines, where performance was easily measured by output. However, applying these same ideas to today's complex, creative problems can lead to significant issues, such as those seen at Boeing. Radhika highlights that for complex problem-solving, research shows that simply saying "do your best" is more effective than setting rigid targets.
Radhika introduces her groundbreaking framework: Objectives, Hypotheses, and Learnings (OHLs). This new mindset shifts the focus from hitting metrics to solving puzzles, fostering a culture of continuous learning, collaboration, and genuine accountability. This approach works by asking three key questions: How well did it work? What did you learn? What will you try next? This invites teams to act as detectives, looking at both good and bad numbers to truly understand what's happening, a muscle that often atrophies with traditional goal setting. The OHL framework is built to align with human psychology, tapping into our innate desire to solve problems rather than just complete tasks.
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