There are three types of OKRs: committed, aspirational, and learning. Each type serves a different purpose and requires different expectations for success. Committed OKRs must be achieved 100%. Aspirational OKRs aim for 70% completion. Learning OKRs measure insights gained, not numerical targets hit.
Understanding these distinctions changes how you set goals, allocate resources, and evaluate performance. This guide explains each type in detail and helps you choose the right one for every situation.
Why OKR Types Matter
Most teams treat all OKRs the same way. They set goals, work toward them, and feel disappointed when they miss targets. This approach ignores a critical reality: different goals require different expectations.
When you treat an aspirational moonshot like a committed deliverable, you set your team up for failure. When you treat a must-do commitment like a stretch goal, you risk missing critical obligations. When you skip learning OKRs entirely, you make decisions without validating assumptions.
Categorizing your OKRs by type solves these problems. It sets clear expectations upfront, guides resource allocation, and creates fair evaluation criteria. Teams that use OKR types effectively avoid the frustration that comes from mismatched expectations.
Type 1: Committed OKRs
Committed OKRs are goals you must achieve. Failure is not an option. These are sometimes called “roofshot” OKRs because you are aiming for a target you know you can hit.
Definition
A committed OKR represents a promise. The team agrees to deliver this outcome, and the organization depends on it. Missing a committed OKR is a serious issue that requires explanation and corrective action.
Success Criteria
100% completion is expected. Anything less than full achievement signals a problem. There is no partial credit. You either hit the target or you did not.
Characteristics
Committed OKRs have clear, achievable deliverables with known paths to completion. They are adequately resourced from the start, with dependencies identified and managed. Teams should have high confidence, around 90% or more, that they can achieve them. These OKRs are often tied to operational necessities or external commitments.
When to Use Committed OKRs
Committed OKRs are the goals your team absolutely has to hit. These are your non-negotiables. They include operational necessities like maintaining system uptime or processing payroll on time, compliance requirements like certifications and mandatory training, and contractual obligations you’ve made to customers or partners. Critical hires that your business cannot function without also belong here, along with financial targets tied to funding, bonuses, or board expectations. If failure isn’t an option, it’s a committed OKR.Example
Objective: Ensure operational excellence across all systems
- KR1: Maintain 99.9% platform uptime (zero unplanned outages over 30 minutes)
- KR2: Process 100% of customer payments within 24 hours
- KR3: Respond to all critical support tickets within 4 hours
Scoring Committed OKRs
Committed OKRs use binary scoring:
- 1.0 = Success. You achieved what you committed to.
- Less than 1.0 = Miss. Something went wrong that needs investigation.
There is no celebration for hitting 0.8 on a committed OKR. If you committed to 99.9% uptime and achieved 99.5%, you missed. The post-mortem should identify what went wrong and how to prevent it next time.
Type 2: Aspirational OKRs
Aspirational OKRs are stretch goals that push beyond comfortable limits. These are sometimes called “moonshots” because they aim for ambitious outcomes that may not be fully achievable.
Definition
An aspirational OKR represents what is possible if everything goes well and the team performs at its best. These goals are intentionally set beyond what feels safe. They drive innovation, creativity, and breakthrough performance.
Success Criteria
70% completion is considered success. Achieving 60-70% of an aspirational OKR indicates strong performance. Hitting 100% may actually signal the goal was not ambitious enough.
Characteristics
Aspirational OKRs have ambitious targets that require exceptional performance. The path to achievement is uncertain and may require innovation or new approaches. Teams should have moderate confidence, around 50 to 70%, that they can achieve them. These OKRs are designed to stretch capabilities and drive growth.
When to Use Aspirational OKRs
Aspirational OKRs are your stretch goals, the ambitious targets that push your team beyond what feels comfortable. These include growth initiatives like doubling market share or tripling revenue, innovation goals like launching a game-changing feature or achieving massive performance improvements, and breakthrough metrics like cutting customer acquisition costs by 60%. Market positioning goals also fit here, such as becoming the top-rated solution in your category or matching the brand recognition of established competitors. If it feels a little scary and success isn’t guaranteed, it’s probably an aspirational OKR.
The Google Model
Google popularized aspirational OKRs by making stretch goals the norm. Their philosophy: if you set a goal to reach the moon and fall short, you still end up among the stars.
At Google, teams expect to achieve about 70% of their aspirational OKRs. Consistently hitting 100% suggests goals are too conservative. Consistently hitting below 50% suggests goals are unrealistic or poorly resourced.
This approach has driven innovations across Google’s products. Teams aim for transformative outcomes rather than incremental improvements.
Example
Objective: Become the undisputed market leader in our category
- KR1: Grow market share from 15% to 35%
- KR2: Achieve highest NPS score among all competitors (target: 70+)
- KR3: Win “Product of the Year” recognition from 3 major industry publications
Scoring Aspirational OKRs
Aspirational OKRs use a gradient scale:
- 0.0-0.3 = Significant miss. Did not make meaningful progress.
- 0.4-0.6 = Partial progress. Made headway but fell well short.
- 0.7-0.8 = Strong performance. Achieved most of an ambitious goal.
- 0.9-1.0 = Exceptional. Rare. May indicate the goal was not ambitious enough.
If your team consistently scores 0.9 or higher on aspirational OKRs, raise your ambitions. If they consistently score below 0.5, either the goals are unrealistic or something is blocking performance.
Type 3: Learning OKRs
Learning OKRs focus on discovery rather than delivery. Success is measured by the quality of insights gained, not by hitting numerical targets.
Definition
A learning OKR represents an experiment or exploration. The goal is to answer questions, validate assumptions, or gain understanding that informs future decisions. The outcome might be confirming a hypothesis or disproving it. Both results are valuable.
Success Criteria
Insights gained matter more than numbers hit. A learning OKR succeeds when you learn something actionable, regardless of whether the findings are positive or negative. “We learned the market is not ready” is a successful outcome if it prevents a bad investment.
Characteristics
Learning OKRs take a hypothesis-driven approach with experimental methodology. The outcomes are uncertain by design, with a focus on validated learning. These OKRs often run on shorter cycles than standard OKRs.
When to Use Learning OKRs
Learning OKRs are about answering critical questions before making big bets. Use them when exploring new markets to test viability, like finding out if enterprise customers will pay premium pricing or if there’s real demand in a new region. They’re also great for product discovery, such as identifying what’s driving churn or which features would convert free users to paid. When facing strategic uncertainty, learning OKRs help you gather the data needed for major decisions, whether that’s evaluating an acquisition target or weighing build versus buy options. Innovation experiments fit here too, like testing whether an AI feature actually improves outcomes. If the goal is insight rather than output, it’s a learning OKR.
Example
Objective: Validate product-market fit in the healthcare vertical
- KR1: Conduct 30 discovery interviews with healthcare decision-makers
- KR2: Run 3 pilot programs with healthcare organizations
- KR3: Document top 5 unique requirements for healthcare customers
- KR4: Make go/no-go recommendation on healthcare vertical with supporting data
Scoring Learning OKRs
Learning OKRs require qualitative assessment:
- Did we answer the questions we set out to answer?
- Are the insights actionable?
- Did we conduct rigorous experiments?
- Can we make better decisions based on what we learned?
Numerical scoring often does not apply. Instead, evaluate the quality and usefulness of the learning. A learning OKR that produces clear, actionable insights is successful even if those insights contradict initial assumptions.
Comparing the Three Types
| Aspect | Committed | Aspirational | Learning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Definition | Must-achieve goals | Stretch goals | Discovery-focused goals |
| Success threshold | 100% | 60-70% | Quality of insights |
| Confidence level | 90%+ | 50-70% | Varies |
| Failure meaning | Serious problem | Expected sometimes | Learning either way |
| Resource approach | Fully resourced | May require creativity | Experimental budget |
| Risk tolerance | Low | High | Embraces uncertainty |
| Typical use | Operations, compliance | Growth, innovation | New markets, discovery |
| Scoring method | Binary (hit or miss) | Gradient (0.0-1.0) | Qualitative |
How to Choose the Right Type
Use this decision framework to categorize each OKR.
Start here: What happens if we miss this goal?
Significant harm (broken commitments, regulatory issues, damaged relationships): This is a committed OKR. The business depends on it, so resource it fully and expect 100% delivery.
Missed opportunity but no serious damage (we’d lose ground on growth, but operations continue): This is an aspirational OKR. You’re pushing beyond proven capabilities, and 70% achievement still represents strong progress.
We learn something either way (testing a hypothesis, gathering data for future decisions): This is a learning OKR. The value is in the insights, not the outcome itself.
Mixing OKR Types: The Portfolio Approach
Most teams should have a mix of OKR types. A portfolio approach balances reliability with ambition and learning.
Recommended Mix
For most teams, a healthy portfolio looks like:
- 40-50% Committed OKRs: Ensure operational excellence and meet obligations
- 30-40% Aspirational OKRs: Drive growth and breakthrough performance
- 10-20% Learning OKRs: Reduce uncertainty and inform future strategy
Adjust based on your context. A startup in discovery mode might have more learning OKRs. A mature company in execution mode might lean toward committed OKRs.
Why Pure Approaches Fail
All committed OKRs: The team never stretches. Innovation stalls. You achieve only what you already know how to do.
All aspirational OKRs: Nothing feels certain. The team may become demoralized by constant “failure.” Critical operations may be neglected.
All learning OKRs: No concrete progress. Endless exploration without execution. The business does not move forward.
Balance creates sustainability. Committed OKRs provide stability. Aspirational OKRs drive growth. Learning OKRs reduce risk on big decisions.
Common Mistakes with OKR Types
Treating All OKRs as Committed
This is the most frequent error. Teams set stretch goals but expect 100% achievement. When they hit 70%, they feel like failures even though that represents strong performance on an aspirational target.
Fix: Explicitly label each OKR by type. Set expectations upfront about what success looks like.
Penalizing Aspirational Misses
Some organizations tie OKRs directly to performance reviews and compensation. This makes teams sandbagging their targets, setting goals they know they can achieve rather than goals that stretch them.
Fix: Separate aspirational OKRs from compensation decisions. Evaluate effort and progress, not just target achievement.
Skipping Learning OKRs
When facing uncertainty, teams often skip learning OKRs and jump straight to committed execution. This leads to building products nobody wants or entering markets that do not fit.
Fix: When you face significant unknowns, start with learning OKRs. Validate assumptions before committing resources.
Misclassifying OKR Types
Teams sometimes label committed OKRs as aspirational to avoid accountability, or label aspirational OKRs as committed to signal importance. Both create problems.
Fix: Use the decision framework honestly. The type should match the reality of the goal, not political considerations.
Not Communicating Types Clearly
If the team does not know which OKRs are committed versus aspirational, they cannot calibrate their effort appropriately. Everything feels equally urgent.
Fix: Make OKR types visible. Include the type label in your OKR tracking system and discuss it in planning sessions.
Scoring OKRs by Type
Committed OKR Scoring
Simple binary assessment:
| Score | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1.0 | Achieved the commitment |
| < 1.0 | Missed the commitment (investigate why) |
Aspirational OKR Scoring
Gradient assessment with context:
| Score | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 0.0-0.3 | Significant miss, review what went wrong |
| 0.4-0.6 | Partial progress, identify blockers |
| 0.7-0.8 | Strong performance, celebrate the stretch |
| 0.9-1.0 | Exceptional (or goal was too conservative) |
Learning OKR Scoring
Qualitative questions:
- Did we complete the planned experiments?
- Are the insights clear and actionable?
- Can we make a confident decision based on what we learned?
- Did we document findings for future reference?
Apply OKR Types to Your Goals
Review your current OKRs. For each one, ask: “Is this committed, aspirational, or learning?” If you cannot answer clearly, the OKR may need revision.Then check your portfolio balance. Are you too heavy on one type? Are you missing learning OKRs where uncertainty exists? Are you treating aspirational goals like commitments?
Getting OKR types right changes how your team relates to goals. Committed OKRs feel reliable. Aspirational OKRs feel exciting. Learning OKRs feel exploratory.
Curious about OKRs but not sure where to start? That’s exactly why ScaleUpExec exists. Our team has been in the trenches, implementing goal-setting frameworks and helping companies find their footing. Drop us a line; we’d love to chat.
