Concept · Organizational & Team Heuristics
OKRs (Objectives and Key Results)
Origin: Andy Grove, popularized by John Doerr
Biological Parallel
When ant colonies face food scarcity, they set clear objectives (find protein sources within 100m) with measurable key results (recruit 50+ foragers to site, transport 10g protein/hour). Scout ants don't report vague success—they perform quantified waggle dances indicating distance, direction, and quality. The colony adjusts tactics based on measured outcomes, not aspirations. OKRs mirror ant colony goal-setting: directional objectives (where to go) paired with measurable key results (how to know you're succeeding) enable swarm intelligence to converge on solutions through rapid feedback.