Outcome

An Outcome is the end result or state of achievement that you're targeting with an OKR. Outcomes are measured by Key Results — they're the "what happened" not the "what we did." This distinction is fundamental to OKRs.

For example, if your Objective is "Improve customer retention," the outcome might be measured by the Key Result "Increase 12-month retention from 80% to 90%." The initiatives to achieve this (improved onboarding, customer success calls, new features) are the activities — they're important, but they're not the outcome.

The emphasis on outcomes over activities is what makes OKRs powerful. Outcomes force you to think about what actually matters to the business, not just keep people busy. A team could complete every initiative on their roadmap but still not hit their Key Result if the initiatives didn't have the desired impact. Conversely, a team might hit a Key Result with fewer initiatives than expected because they focused on high-impact work. Measuring outcomes creates accountability for real results.