Delegation & EmpowermentvsOKRs (Objectives & Key Results)

Delegation is the art of assigning the right work to the right people while maintaining accountability. Founders who delegate effectively multiply their output by 5-10x. Those who don't become the bottleneck — their company can never grow beyond what one person can do. If you're the smartest person in every meeting, you've hired wrong or you're not delegating enough.

OKRs are a goal-setting framework where ambitious Objectives (qualitative goals) are paired with 2-4 measurable Key Results that prove the objective was achieved. Intel invented them. Google adopted them at 40 employees and credits OKRs with 10x'ing their focus. The ideal OKR is 70% achievable — if you hit 100%, your goals weren't ambitious enough.

The two delegation extremes are equally fatal: (1) Abdicating — dumping work with no context or checkpoints, then being surprised when it fails. (2) Micromanaging — delegating the task but not the authority, requiring approval for every decision. Both destroy trust and team growth.

Teams turn OKRs into task lists. 'Launch feature X by March' is a task, not a Key Result. A proper Key Result measures IMPACT: 'Increase 7-day retention from 40% to 55%.' The difference is enormous — one checks a box, the other drives real business outcomes.

Use the Delegation Ladder: Level 1 = 'Do exactly as I say.' Level 2 = 'Research options and I'll decide.' Level 3 = 'Recommend an approach and I'll approve.' Level 4 = 'Decide and tell me what you did.' Level 5 = 'Decide, don't tell me unless it fails.' Start each person at the highest level they can handle. Promote them up the ladder as they prove themselves.

Set 3-5 Objectives per quarter. Each Objective gets 2-4 Key Results. Key Results must be numerical and measurable. Score them 0.0-1.0 at quarter end. Aim for 0.6-0.7 average — lower means you're sandbagging, higher means you're not ambitious enough.