Institute for the Study of Pointless Metrics

strategy·Published 2025-09

Frequency of 'Alignment' in OKR Statements and Observed Team Alignment: An Inverse Relationship

Principal investigator: Dean Beaumont Kessler, Dean of the Practitioner Program.

14.88.512.3162137536985Instances of 'alignment' per OKR document (count)Observed alignment score (external rater) (score, 0–100)r = -0.89p < 0.001n = 247
Figure 1. Instances of 'alignment' per OKR document versus Observed alignment score (external rater). n = 247.
The more frequently the word 'alignment' appears in a team's OKRs, the less aligned the team actually is.

Methodology

Two hundred and forty-seven OKR documents were collected from participating organizations under an NDA the Institute drafted for itself. Instances of 'alignment' and 'aligned' were tallied. Observed team alignment was then scored by two external raters (neither of whom met the teams in question) via a five-minute review of meeting calendars.

Funding disclosure: Funded by the Institute's general operating budget and one participating organization that requested the outcome be inverted.

Instruments cited in this study

Full citation

Kessler, B. (2025). Frequency of 'Alignment' in OKR Statements and Observed Team Alignment: An Inverse Relationship. Institute for the Study of Pointless Metrics. r = -0.89, p < 0.001, n = 247.

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