Key Things Discussed
How OKRs can shift company cultures towards more outcomes-based approaches – especially relevant for Covid-inspired distributed workers.
The difference between OKRs, KPIs, and their sometimes complementary goals.
How to infuse company-wide meetings and employee evaluations with OKR-oriented measures and priorities.
Deployment of CLEAR – Career Path, Learning Objectives, Expectations, Accountabilities & Rewards – in a sales context.
How leaders who are vulnerable to personal challenges set a tone that trickles down and encourages OKR adoption throughout the ranks.
Why creating an environment where it’s safe for employees to ask questions – and fail – is a key element to successful OKR implementation.
Tips and tactics for anyone getting ready to adopt an OKR approach.
Show Notes
[00:20] Growing up in a big, rambunctious family, Bradford realized early on that he was energized by two things: Making people happy and understanding how business works.
[02:25] Bradford defines the HR function and its multi-dimensional role in showcasing and aligning departments across the enterprise.
[03:30] About Bradford’s take on the freight industry and Loadsmart, a provider of digital solutions to manage industry logistics. As CPO, he was part of creating a powerful, scalable, synchronous clearinghouse for automating communications and industry flow. 
[07:10] What it will mean for Loadsmart to provide an AI-driven platform that coordinates and connect not only shippers, who are the primary customers, but also carriers, ports, customs, warehouses – the many dispersed elements that have never before had access to shared data.
[10:00] Throughout his career and multiple engagements, Bradford has been building on OKRs that weren’t much more than KPIs when he started on the journey – a journey, he says, that never ends.
[12:00] Defining the core difference between an OKR and a KPI, based on the lens used and varying indicators.
[15:10] Bradford highlights the transformational impacts on company-wide meetings that focus cross-functionally and creatively to expand ideation and stretch goals.
[16:58] KPIs do have a place within organizations, particularly in areas where baseline goals are important for level-setting.
[17:42] About linking OKRs and evaluations, for Loadsmart a quarterly process based on four check-in questions focused on exceptionality.
[19:50] “Loadee” evals include results-focused OKR questions that flip the paradigm to emphasize effort and output rather than a check-the-box mentality.
[23:49] About CLEAR (Career Path, Learning Objectives, Expectations, Accountabilities & Rewards), an automated progression program that offers employees flexibility from quarter to quarter in how they pursue objective goals. Bradford shares examples from sales, where he recently rolled out a highly successful program.
[29:27] Accelerated by Covid, workplace culture is rebranding performance management to shift from a performative (long hours, butts in seats) mentality to an impact- and measures-based orientation. 
[31:09] Ideation and expectations at the senior level in terms of how to bring OKR strategy to life, starting with the pyramid of progress: 
At the individual level it’s about initiatives and tasks and making progress towards long-term team objectives. Then measuring for key results.
Expectations can be set top-down, but individuals are empowered bottom-up to try things, fail fast and drive initiatives autonomously.
Ideation comes into play as observation and opportunity-oriented rather than imposed problem-oriented solutions as a starting point.


[34:45] Testing ideation is a critical next step in successful OKR deployment:
Build tools (they can be fairly basic) to create evidence-based data analytics rather than blindly pursuing initiatives based on hearsay or intuition.
Test adoption and outcomes via KPIs by tracking things like revenue.


[37:25] Bradford explains how he once used the creation of a cricket league for em