Your company doesn’t need a diet. It needs a health plan.

sebastien644
Aug 25
3 min read

You can step on the scale every morning and still feel out of shape.The number moves a little… but you sleep poorly, you’re stressed, and energy is low. Health is more than one number.

Business is the same. We stare at dashboards (sales, costs, deadlines) and say “we’re fine.” Then we cut expenses to “lose weight.” Quality drops, customers wait, teams burn out. We got lighter, not healthier.

Where numbers mislead us

We optimize one metric (lower cost) and break something else (customer experience, learning speed).
We do more (projects, releases) without asking if it really helps customers.
We treat symptoms (“cut!”) instead of causes.

Bottom line: one number never tells the whole story.

Two tools that work together (no tech talk)

Indicators (your numbers): like blood pressure, pulse, temperature. They tell you today’s state.
OKRs (Objectives & Key Results): your health plan. One clear objective and 2–4 measurable results to move from here to there by a specific date.

Think of it this way:

Indicators = “Where are we now?”

OKRs = “What do we improve next, and how will we know?”

A short story (fictional, but true to life)

Mistral Goods, a small home-goods e-commerce brand.

At first: they tracked costs down to the cent. When returns spiked, they cut support and slowed exchanges. Costs went down… but angry reviews went up, and average order value fell.

What changed: they set one plain-language objective — “Make post-purchase so smooth that customers stay fans.”

Result 1: bring return rate from 8% → 5% by quarter-end.
Result 2: reply time under 6 hours (from 24h).
Result 3: post-purchase rating from 3.6 → 4.2/5.

What moved: they simplified returns, fixed product descriptions, and gave support more autonomy. Three months later, returns dropped and basket size climbed. They stopped watching only costs and started treating the relationship.

Apply it in 30 minutes

Pick one health theme for the quarter: customer experience, delivery reliability, quality, speed, team energy.
Write the Objective in human words: verb of impact + who benefits.
- “Make our service so predictable that partners recommend us.”
- “Turn onboarding into a ‘wow’ moment for new customers.”
Set 2–4 results people can see in real life: say from X to Y by date.
- “Average resolution time: 3 days → 1.5 days (by Nov 30).”
- “4-star-and-up reviews: 62% → 78%.”
- “On-time deliveries: 85% → 95%.”
Weekly plan: three small actions to test this week. No big program needed.
15-minute weekly check-in: Are we moving toward the results? What do we keep or change? The goal isn’t perfect dashboards; it’s steady progress.

Cutting isn’t a cure

You can drop 5 kilos by starving… and gain them back right after.In business, cuts can be necessary sometimes — but they aren’t a health plan.Good OKRs aim for durable improvements: fewer customer frictions, faster learning, quality that doesn’t require heroics.

The 3-question quick test (super simple)

For each result, ask:

What changes for a real customer or our teams?
Can we say “from X to Y by this date”?
If we hit it, is our Objective obviously more true?

Without three yeses, rewrite it. Simpler is better.

What to remember

Dashboards are useful but insufficient.
OKRs turn a crash diet into a health plan: one clear objective, a few concrete results, a steady rhythm.
The key question shifts from “How much does it cost?” to “What actually gets better for customers and teams?”

Want a hand? Get a 45-minute mini-diagnostic: we pick one health theme, write 1 objective and 3 results that matter, and you leave with your one-week plan.https://www.hve2.coach/en/contact

FAQ

What is an OKR in simple words?A short, clear objective plus a few measurable results that show real-world progress by a specific date.

Do OKRs replace our KPIs?No. KPIs are your vital signs; OKRs are the plan to improve them.

How many OKRs do we need?Start small: 1–3 objectives, each with 2–4 results per quarter.