Art

"Shortly after arriving, Art held a full-day, off-site business review for the Lumeris leadership team. Now it’s on the company’s monthly calendar. When our top-line OKRs are projected on a screen, it’s clear to see which leaders are making their objectives. Art doesn’t like yellows, so every OKR is either green (on track) or red (at risk). There’s no bell-curve ambiguity, no place for problems to hide. The reviews run for three hours, with a dozen senior executives taking their turn. Little time is spent on people’s greens. Instead, they “sell” their reds. The team votes on the most important at-risk OKRs for the company as a whole, then brainstorms together as long as it takes to get the objectives back on track. In the spirit of cross-departmental solidarity, individuals volunteer to “buy” their colleagues’ reds."

"“OKRs are how we’re going to run the company, and we’re going to use them to measure your bosses.” (That was the carrot that balanced the stick.) Art’s role in the crusade cannot be overestimated. He set the tone for what he calls “brutal transparency without judgment.” And he made my job less lonely."