Christina Wodtke

Author, Speaker & Stanford Lecturer at Stanford / Former LinkedIn, Zynga, Yahoo

Multi-time author and Stanford lecturer teaching product management and game design; consults on OKR processes; former product leader at LinkedIn, MySpace, Zynga, and Yahoo; founded three companies and the online magazine Boxes and Arrows.

The Craftsperson The Operator

Dimension Profile

Strategic Vision 60%

Execution & Craft 80%

Data & Experimentation 50%

Growth & Distribution 30%

Team & Leadership 70%

User Empathy & Research 40%

Key Themes

OKR best practices Friday celebrations power OKR cadence design mission-vision-strategy-OKR alignment storytelling in product common OKR mistakes

Episode Summary

Christina Wodtke, Stanford lecturer and the 'queen of OKRs,' provides a comprehensive guide to making OKRs actually work, from the atomic unit of an OKR through common failure modes and healthy cadence design. She reveals that Friday celebrations alone can transform team culture before OKRs are even implemented, and explains how OKRs must connect to mission, vision, and strategy to avoid becoming meaningless task lists.

Leadership Principles

→ People do not value celebrations enough — starting Friday celebrations alone can transform team culture even before implementing OKRs
→ OKRs are not a substitute for strategy — they must connect to mission, vision, and strategy to be meaningful
→ The most common OKR mistake is treating them as task lists rather than as ambitious outcomes that stretch the team

Notable Quotes

"People do not value celebrations enough. I've had CEOs who said, 'It was the middle of the quarter, so we didn't start OKRs, but we did start Friday celebrations and oh my God, things are already changing.' The simple act of getting together and saying, 'What was the most awesome thing that happened this week?' makes people feel like they're part of something really special."
— On the surprisingly powerful impact of team celebrations

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