Who started OKRs?

Since the early 1990s, OKRs have been used by some of the world’s most successful organizations to measure and track progress. John Doerr brough OKRs to the mainstream by introducing them to Google in 1999. OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are a simple yet powerful tool for setting, measuring, and achieving goals.

The origins of OKRs can be traced back to the early days of the semiconductor industry, when a young engineer named Andy Grove joined Fairchild Semiconductor. Grove quickly rose through the ranks at Fairchild, and in 1970 he was named President and CEO. Under Grove’s leadership, Fairchild became the leading supplier of semiconductors in the world.

Since Doerr popularized OKRs at Google, other companies that have successfully introduced the goal-setting methodology since, including Twitter, LinkedIn, Adobe, Yahoo!, Intel, Symantec, and Oracle.