We're sure you've heard the acronym: OKRs - Objectives and Key Results. But somewhere along the way, the simplicity got lost in translation. In this episode, we ask: What if we stopped calling them OKRs altogether? Roger Longden, TBG Founder and Marc Applebaum PM2 OKR Consultant at PM2 discuss how goal-setting became over engineered, why rhythms matter more than rituals, and the power of intention over jargon. If you’re over hearing acronym over acronym but love what OKRs are all about, or if you've ever wondered why your team’s goals feel disconnected—this one’s for you.   Enjoy the episode!

  In this insightful episode of Giant Talk, Roger sits down with Sonia, an experienced HR professional and coach, to explore the critical challenge of organisational alignment. They dive deep into why strategic goals often get lost or diluted as they cascade through different levels of an organisation. Drawing from decades of experience at the board level, Sonia shares sharp insights into the disconnect between strategic goals and frontline execution. From her own journey leading blue-collar teams through transformation, to her mission to democratise coaching in business, this conversation uncovers the human side of alignment—trust, communication, confidence, and the critical role of first-line managers. Enjoy the episode!

In this episode, we sit down with our long-time friend Henrik-Jan Van Der Pol, Founder of Perdoo, to dig into the evolving world of OKRs. As the market shifts, with consultancies and software providers consolidating or shutting down, what’s really going on? Henrik-Jan shares his insights on these changes, the lessons learned over the past 4–5 years, and what Microsoft’s decision to retire Viva Goals means for the future of OKRs. Tune in for a thought-provoking conversation. Enjoy the episode!   Visit Perdoo  

In this episode, we’re joined by Sten, founder of Tability, an OKR platform designed to make accountability seamless and help teams achieve their goals faster. We chat about how accountability fits into the OKR framework and why this is so crucial. Sten explains that while teams often excel at setting goals during workshops, they frequently “drop the ball” when it comes to staying on track. Tability bridges this gap by making goals part of your weekly routine instead of something that gets revisited only at the end of the quarter. Here are some of the key takeaways from our conversation: Why spreadsheets fail for OKRs: Goals on spreadsheets can easily lead to drift. Without regular check-ins, teams lose momentum. Building habits for weekly accountability: Sten emphasises the importance of reviewing progress to ensure you're moving in the right direction Speeding up execution: Delayed feedback can waste time and resources. By integrating OKRs into a team's rhythm, Tability empowers faster decision-making and execution. Enabling self-management: The ultimate goal of OKRs is to help teams self-manage effectively. This approach contrasts with traditional command-and-control models and unlocks bottom-up energy. Adapting to leadership changes: Sten shares how Tability often supports teams undergoing leadership shifts by providing clarity and empowering individuals The importance of setting clear expectations: Goals aren’t a silver bullet—they require clarity, alignment, and regular follow-up to be effective. If your team has ever struggled to stay accountable to your goals or wants to achieve faster execution with fewer bottlenecks, this episode is sure to arm you with lots of insights.   Enjoy the episode!    

Welcome back to another episode of Giant Talk. In this episode, we sit down with Jonathan Elliot, a seasoned CEO with a career spanning commercial sales & marketing, strategy consulting, and leadership. Jonathan shares his expertise on implementing Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) in large, complex organisations and the unique challenges that come with it. We discuss: The role of OKRs: How OKRs help organisations scale, transform, and navigate crises Building alignment: Creating a vision, clarifying roles, and ensuring teams stay aligned without disruption. Future-focused thinking: Why OKRs should be tied to forward-looking metrics, not past performance. Strategic Execution: Why success isn’t just about hitting “green” metrics but executing the strategy effectively. Jonathan also highlights the universal value of OKRs for organisations of all sizes and the top benefits of implementing this framework effectively. If you're ready to align your teams and drive meaningful outcomes, this conversation is packed with actionable insights.   Enjoy the episode!  

In this episode, we explore the power of communication with James Milsom, Head of Marketing at Hunter.AI. With extensive experience across tech start-ups and large SMBs, James shares his perspective on why communication serves as the bedrock of both success and failure within organisations. From enhancing collaboration to avoiding costly missteps, James highlights actionable strategies for leaders and teams to drive meaningful change.   Enjoy the episode!   Connect with James on LinkedIn

In this podcast episode we sit down with James Church, COO and Co-Founder of investment readiness agency Robot Mascot. We dive into (from a founders perspective) the good, the bad and the ugly of becoming investable. What are the top 3 things that make a Founder (and their business) investable? How important is it to investors to be confident that Founders are evolving their approach to defining and delivering results, as their business grows in size and scale? Listen to this exciting episode to find out more.   Links Connect with James on LinkedIn Find out more about Robot Mascot   

In this episode Roger sits down with a Chief Elephant Spotter (curious, listen to find out what this entails). James Pels is founder of Proven EA, a consultancy specialising in providing business transformation, agile coaching and digital transformation services to a wide range of industries in the public and private sectors. Roger and James dive into how to not waste time on things that you shouldn't be doing and discuss some common issues faced in workplaces that are a result of this.  No matter how well teams are working, if they're not working on the right things then time is wasted... Enjoy the episode!   Connect with James on LinkedIn Find out more about Proven EA Proven EA Toolkit Toolkit Lean Agile Manchester         

Welcome back to Giant Talk!   In this episode Roger has an interesting conversation with Luke Fisher, CEO of Mo. Luke shares his journey from a fintech company undergoing cultural transformation to founding Mo, a platform designed to help managers and leaders sustainably invest in organisational culture. We dive into the significance of high-performing teams, the critical role of bottom-up change, and how small, marginal changes can drive transformational impact.  Whether you're looking to build a high-performance culture or engage your employees more effectively, this episode is packed with actionable insights and expert advice.    Link to Mo - https://mo.work/ Connect with Luke - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lsfisher/

Like any military organisation, command and control is necessary, especially in battle.  When the stakes are this high, how can the time and space be made for testing new ideas, and challenging the status quo? So how does an organisation like the UK’s Royal Air Force learn, adapt and grow when hierarchy and orders are commonplace?  Flight Lieutenant Nic Corrigan joins us to share how time is consciously made for reflection and analysis so that the RAF can always be certain it’s improving and evolving its capacity and capabilities. Nic brings with him a critical perspective on this given his unit is responsible for human performance. This is a fascinating insight into not just the processes the RAF follows, but also how they have developed and sustained the culture to support this.   Enjoy the episode!

In this episode, we reconnect with ECO Surv, a valued client from just over a year ago. ECO Surv offer compliance and workflow management solutions in the energy efficiency, retro fit and renewables sector. Dive into the conversation with Nate, Co-Founder and CEO, and Bex, People and Culture Manager, as they share their journey with OKRs. Discover how, amid their rapid scaling, ECO Surv found OKRs to be a game-changer for prioritisation and aligning their team with a shared vision. Nate and Bex reflect on the transformative impact of using OKRs over the past 12 months – unveiling what strategies have proven effective and how they've adapted on this exciting journey. Enjoy the insightful discussion!

Welcome to another episode of Giant Talk. In this episode Roger chats to chats to Joanna, Head of Academy and Expert Consultant at There Be Giants. This episode shines a spotlight on the important, yet often overlooked, topic of psychological safety in the workplace. Jo brings a wealth of knowledge and experience from her work at There Be Giants and explores the essence of psychological safety - a climate where team members feel included, secured and free to express contrasting ideas. She argues that instilling psychological safety requires persistent effort and patience from both leaders and team members, with trust playing a crucial role. Enjoy the episode!  

We're clearly big fan of OKRs, but we're not so blindly fanatical that we don’t accept they are only part of the picture when it comes to strategy execution.  OKRs signpost and help to chart progress at a high level but don’t do a great job at defining and tracking the details; they need to interface with the next level, and that’s often project management. At TBG we've had a lot of involvement with project management over the years, both in a “traditional” waterfall sense and also agile, and have seen how either tribe (as that’s how it appears sometimes) seems to hold the other in disdain.  Because of this, Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez’s HBR paper on how Waterfall and Agile should learn how to work together better caught our eye.   Join us as we explore the challenges of managing modern projects and how Antonio believes a “hybrid” combination of waterfall and agile is now needed. Antonio is the author of the HBR Project Management Handbook, he also writes for the WSJ and is one of the founders of https://www.strategyimplementationinstitute.org/   Antonio is currently conducting research into hybrid project management so if you are interested in contributing, you can do this via https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NXK2TCF You can find his website at http://antonionietorodriguez.com/ He has a LinkedIn newsletter at https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/lead-projects-successfully-6820596029113565184/ And a selection of free courses on LinkedIn learning at https://www.linkedin.com/learning/instructors/antonio-nieto-rodriguez   Enjoy the episode!

OKR teams rarely find themselves based in the same location, so forming and working together brings all the challenges of hybrid working in today's contemporary organisations. This is why we was particularly interested in having a chat with Alexandra Samuel, after reading her HBR article “3 Project Management Strategies for a Hybrid Workplace”.  In our 30-minute+ conversation, we discuss all aspects of hybrid team forming and ongoing management, with Alex sharing insights and advice from her 25+ years of experience of working within and researching this aspect of work.  Alexandra has also contributed to the WSJ, and she is co-author of “Remote Inc. – How to thrive at work wherever you are”  You can connect with Alex at https://www.alexandrasamuel.com/  Enjoy the episode! 

Welcome back to Giant Talk, the world’s first OKR podcast.   In this episode, Roger chats to Jacob Morgan author, futurist, & keynote Speaker on leadership, employee experience, & the future of work. In this discussion, Jacob talks about the topic of leading with vulnerability. How do you as a leader share a vulnerable side, share any gaps you have and open up about what you’ve learned to close any gaps. How can you as a leader feel safe enough to share this side? Fascinating conversation with an expert in this field.    Enjoy the episode!  You can purchase Jacob’s book leading with vulnerability here. 

Welcome back to Giant Talk, the world’s first OKR podcast.   In this episode, Roger chats to Ryan Lowdermilk, Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft, an OKR Champion and OKR Coach for the Microsoft Tech team for the America’s. Ryan chats to Roger about the use of OKRs at Microsoft, how OKRs can break through the hierarchy and why OKRs should be a light lift.    Enjoy the episode! 

Welcome back to Giant Talk, the world’s first OKR podcast.   In this episode, Roger catches up with Tracey Boylin, CEO of Organisational Genetics. Organisational Genetics was born out of the real life experiences of the founders to address the challenge of nurturing a more open reporting culture in the NHS and other organisations.  Tracey chats to Roger about her work in Ukraine in preventing corruption and fraud, all whilst in the middle of a war.   Enjoy the episode!   

Welcome back to Giant Talk, the world’s longest running OKR podcast.   In this episode, Roger chats with Behnam Tabrizi, of Stanford University. Behnam - a 3X award-winning scholar and educator - has been teaching “Leading Organisational Transformation” at Stanford University's Department of Management Science & Engineering and executive programs for over 25 years. An expert in organisational and leadership transformation, he has helped thousands of CEOs and leaders plan, mobilise and implement innovative transformational initiatives.  Behnam has written ten books, most recently Going on Offense: A Leader’s Playbook for Perpetual Innovation. Going on Offense is a powerful resource for anyone looking to transform their organisation and their people into a perpetual innovator. Based on a comprehensive seven-year study from Stanford University, Going on Offense provides an insider view into the drivers of success and challenges in 26 organisations.  Behnam chats to Roger about the fear some leaders have around AI, and how they can leverage AI to gain competitive advantage. Enjoy the episode!    Links Going on Offense: A Leader’s Playbook for Perpetual Innovation - Pre-order Companies that replace people with AI will get left behind

Welcome back to Giant Talk, the world’s first OKR podcast.   In this episode, Roger catches up with Patrick Jocelyn, Chief Executive Officer at Omniplex Learning, a client of TBG. Omniplex Learning is the complete learning and development solution. Award-winning authoring tools, market-leading learning management systems, bespoke digital learning creation and systems and skills training – all in one place. Patrick talks to Roger about their OKR journey and what impact they’ve had on the business.   Enjoy the episode! 

There are countless things we love today that began as a single idea that developed into something spectacular after partnering with another.   A key question, therefore, needs to be: how can we work smarter, not harder, whilst adapting to ongoing changes and improving organisational performance? We teamed up with HR Fusion to conduct some of our own research and dig into existing research, to investigate how essential cross-functional working is in promoting collaboration and if it might be the key to transformational performance for individuals, teams and organisations in our constantly evolving world.   Roger chats to Rachel Bennett from HR Fusion to dig into the findings..   Enjoy the episode...   Download our paper