Ep.5 - The OKR Effect: How Outcome Focus Transforms Strategy Execution

In Episode 5 of The Incremental Edge, Emma sits down with Roger Longden, founder of There Be Giants, to explore how OKRs help leaders move from strategy-on-a-slide to real-world execution.

Roger works with organisations from fast-growing scale-ups to 20,000-person corporates. In this conversation he explains why strategic plans stall, how spotlighting improves focus, why outcome-thinking changes everything, and what business leaders can do this week to make measurable progress.

Whether you're an MD, CFO or senior operator trying to align teams and drive performance, Roger’s practical, human approach to OKRs will give you clear next steps.

Chapters:
00:00 Welcome to Episode 5
00:34 Roger’s journey and the origins of There Be Giants
04:45 What OKRs solve for different types of organisations
06:04 Why strategy fails without translation
09:39 Short-term cycles, agility and the power of framing
13:19 Spotlighting vs floodlighting
16:33 OKRs, KPIs and the sat-nav analogy
17:22 A real client example and outcome-focused mindsets
21:34 Stretch, commitment and measuring progress
25:43 How to avoid OKR overwhelm
27:24 Ownership, leadership and change management
32:30 Keeping momentum and communicating progress
35:26 Culture, psychological safety and innovation
40:10 Common pitfalls leaders fall into
43:03 Designing the right number of OKRs
45:44 Pilots, FOMO and proving the concept
50:42 How OKRs help MDs and CFOs
52:39 How to run a pilot or small experiment
57:11 The future of OKRs and the role of AI
01:01:28 One small step you can take this week
01:03:07 Where to find Roger

Connect with the speakers:
Emma Pownall -   / emmapownall  
Roger Longden -   / rogerlongden  
Roger Longden is the founder of There Be Giants
https://therebegiants.com/

Listen on podcast platforms:
Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/episode/0zca...

Read the show notes: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/okr-ef...

Read the Insights blog:
https://datel.info/insights/the-okr-e...

Incremetal Edge is a Datel podcast.
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