The 70% Rule: Why Failing Your OKRs is a Good Thing

In traditional corporate culture, missing a goal is a failure. It affects your bonus, your promotion, and your ego. In the OKR (Objectives and Key Results) framework, consistently hitting 100% is the real failure. It means you are sandbagging.

The philosophy behind OKRs, popularized by Intel and Google, is built on the idea of "stretch goals." If you know exactly how to achieve a goal, it's not an objective; it's a task. An objective should be uncomfortable. It should force you to rethink how you work.

The Sweet Spot: 0.6 to 0.7

Google and other OKR pioneers aim for a success rate of 0.6 to 0.7 (60-70%). This is the "sweet spot" of performance.

• Score 1.0 (100%): You failed. The goal was too easy. You played it safe and left potential growth on the table. You didn't innovate; you just executed.
• Score 0.7 (70%): Perfect. You stretched yourself, achieved a lot, and learned where your limits are. You likely achieved more than you would have if you had set a "safe" goal.
• Score 0.3 (30%): You likely overreached or executed poorly. This is a signal to reassess the strategy or the resources allocated.

Committed vs. Aspirational OKRs

To avoid confusion (and panic), it is crucial to distinguish between two types of goals within the OKR framework. Not all goals are created equal.

1. Committed OKRs (Roofshots)

These are goals you must hit. They are operational necessities.

• "Release the security patch by Friday."
• "Maintain 99.9% server uptime."
• "Hit the sales quota to pay salaries."

For these goals, the expected score is 1.0 (100%). Missing them is a performance issue.

2. Aspirational OKRs (Moonshots)

These are the big bets. They are high-risk, high-reward.

• "Reinvent the search engine experience."
• "Capture 50% of the market in a new country."
• "Reduce customer churn to zero."

For these goals, a score of 0.7 is a massive victory. If you aim for 100 and hit 70, you are still further ahead than if you aimed for 50 and hit 50.

The Psychology of Failure

Implementing the 70% rule is harder culturally than it is mathematically. Most employees are conditioned to fear failure.

Psychological Safety is Key: For this system to work, leadership must create an environment of psychological safety. Employees cannot be punished for missing ambitious goals. If you punish failure, people will stop taking risks. They will set safe, boring goals that they know they can hit to protect their bonus.

Decouple OKRs from Compensation: This is controversial but necessary. If your bonus is tied directly to your OKR score, you will negotiate for lower goals. "I can't do 10 million, let's say 8 million." Now the company is misaligned. OKRs should be about collective ambition, not individual payout.

Conclusion

The 70% rule redefines success. It shifts the focus from "did we check the box?" to "did we push the boundary?" Embrace the discomfort of the stretch. If you aren't failing a little bit, you aren't growing enough.