Rocks and OKRs are both goal-setting frameworks that are designed to help teams and organizations achieve their objectives. However, there are some key differences between the two approaches.

What is The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS®) and Rocks?

The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS®) model was created by Gino Wickman and was based on Wickman’s own experience as a successful entrepreneur. Gino’s goal was simple: He wanted to help leadership teams get what they wanted out of their businesses and gain traction.

How? Easy. He wrote a book named Traction®.

Rocks are a core concept of EOS and are defined as the 3-7 most important priorities for a team or organization for a given quarter. They are typically ambitious and challenging, and they are meant to drive focus and alignment across the organization. In addition, they need to be SMART: Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely.

What are OKRs?

OKRs stand for Objectives and Key Results. They are a goal-setting framework that was popularized by Google and other tech companies. Andrew Grove is often seen as the brain behind the concept of OKR during his tenure at Intel in the 1970s, before writing about OKR in his book High Output Management from 1983.

OKRs are typically defined on a quarterly basis, and they consist of 3-5 objectives and 3-5 key results for each objective. Key results are measurable and time-bound, and they are designed to help teams track their progress toward their objectives.

Here is a table that summarizes the key differences between Rocks and OKRs:

Characteristic	Rocks	OKRs
Focus	Every Rock needs to be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely.	Quarterly objectives and key results
Scope	Typically used by teams and organizations	Can be used by teams, organizations, and individuals
Ambition	Typically ambitious and challenging	Can be ambitious or incremental
Measurability	Every Rock needs to be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely.	Key results are measurable and time-bound
Alignment	Designed to drive focus and alignment within teams and across the organization	Can be used to drive alignment within teams and across the organization

Which framework is better for you?

It depends on your specific needs and goals. Rocks can be implemented without implementing the full EOS, but it is with the full EOS you really gain – traction. 🙂 If you are looking for a more stand-alone goal-setting framework then OKRs may be a better choice.

Here are some examples of how Rocks and OKRs can be used:

Rocks:

• A software company might set a rock to launch a new product in the next quarter.
• A sales team might set a rock to increase revenue by 10% in the next quarter.
• A marketing team might set a rock to increase lead generation by 20% in the next quarter.

OKRs:

• Objective: Launch a new product.
  • Key result 1: Complete beta testing by the end of Q2.
  • Key result 2: Generate 1000 leads from the product launch campaign.
  • Key result 3: Achieve a customer satisfaction score of 90% for the new product.
    
• Objective: Increase revenue by 10%.
  • Key result 1: Increase the number of active users by 5%.
  • Key result 2: Increase the average conversion rate by 2%.
  • Key result 3: Increase the average order value by 3%.
    
• Objective: Increase lead generation by 20%.
  • Key result 1: Increase website traffic by 15%.
  • Key result 2: Improve the conversion rate of landing pages by 5%.
  • Key result 3: Host 4 webinars targeting potential leads, with a goal of attracting 500 participants in total.

The best way to decide which framework is right for you is to experiment and see what works best for your team or organization.

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