Strategy execution that sticks. Alignment. Weekly progress. Results.

From the author of Moving the Needle with Lean OKRs. I install a light operating rhythm so teams achieve bold goals—week by week.

Limited Kickstart slots this month

 
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As featured in Forbes, CEO Today, HR Magazine, AMBA, Emerce — BookTalksMediaResults


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Here’s the problem

  • Strategy execution stallsalignment & cross-collaboration gaps across Product, Engineering, Sales, and CS; priorities diverge.

  • Alignment evaporates by Wednesday — Monday we pick Outcome X; by mid-week Product ships Y, Sales promises Z, CS fights Q. Local wins; the company number doesn’t move.

  • Metrics don’t move — dashboards grow; retention, CSAT, activation, lead time stay flat.

  • OKRs read well, don’t guide choices — no weekly behavior change.

  • Collaboration stalls — decisions age in inboxes, handoffs drag, ownership blurs.

  • No trusted data — key flows aren’t instrumented; progress is argued, not seen.

  • Teams are busy; (bold) goals don’t move.

Result: motion without movement.


 
 

There’s a better way

A light operating rhythm that connects strategy, behavior, and data every week.

  • One Objective at company level.

  • 3–5 Key Results that define success (Lag + Behavior leads).

  • A short weekly review (length to fit your context) that ends with clear commitments.

  • A small set of active bets focused on specific KRs (as needed, not a fixed number).

  • A simple scoreboard that shows trends at a glance.

Fewer starts, more finishes. Faster decisions. Visible movement of the needle.

Three ways I can help

Working with me is simple, clear, and designed to create momentum fast.

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Execution Kickstart

A leadership working session. We map your top gaps, decide “OKR now” or “fix X first”, sketch a 30-day route, and set the weekly review. No long reports.

Go to kickstart →

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Activation (install & hand‑off)

Install the weekly rhythm with targeted workshop interventions selected by your Kickstart.

Go to Activation →

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Scale: Train‑the‑Trainer (Needle Guides™)

Certify 2–4 internal facilitators to run and improve the cadence—results without me in the room.

Go to Train‑the‑Trainer →

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Execution Kickstart

A compact, decision-oriented workshop to start smart—no hefty diagnostic.

You get (max 3 pages):

  • Executive heatmap of your top execution gaps — surfaced with field-tested patterns to isolate the few constraints that cause most drag.

  • Readiness decision — OKR now, or first fix X (with owners).

  • 30-day route — one clear Objective (draft), 3–5 candidate Key Results, a short weekly-review rhythm with agenda, a working scoreboard template, and a shortlist of candidate moves to pressure-test in Activation against those KRs.

Included: optional 2–3 micro-interviews or artifact review beforehand; one 45-minute follow-up decision clinic to close any open items.
Formats:
leadership room only • plus 2–3 short stakeholder calls • or artifact-review only.
Next step: straight into Activation (install & hand-off).


Activation (install & hand‑off)

Establish a weekly rhythm that ensures strategy execution sticks across Product, Engineering, Sales & CS. Focused working sessions, selected from your Kickstart. No long embed.

In 2–4 weeks you’ll have:

  • One Objective and 3–5 Key Results translated into weekly decisions.

  • A short, repeatable review cadence (length to fit your context) that ends in clear commitments.

  • A shared scoreboard and basic instrumentation on the flows that matter—progress seen, not argued.

  • A concise 30-day operating plan with owners, a stop-list, and a shortlist of candidate moves tied to your KRs.

  • Hand-off to your internal lead with lightweight playbooks so the rhythm runs without me.

How we do it:
A small set of targeted interventions—chosen in the Kickstart—delivered as facilitated work sessions. We don’t add ceremonies; we install behavior. (Where relevant, we add thin evaluation & guardrails for automation/AI under Tech, Data, or People—kept pragmatic.)

What’s not included:
No always-on access, no internal email/Slack, no endless reports. Fixed scope, fixed dates, clear decisions.


Scale: Train‑the‑Trainer (Needle Guides™)

Make results durable without me in the room. Certify 2–4 internal facilitators to run and improve the cadence.

In 6–8 weeks you get: one rhythm across teams, strong KR hygiene, faster decisions.

Included: Facilitator Kit, scoreboard/review templates, calendar & comms pack.

Boundaries: fixed scope, planned sessions only, no always-on.

Prerequisite: Activation running for at least one team.


Engagement paths

  • Recommended: Execution Kickstart → Operating Rhythm Activation (workshop interventions & hand‑off) → (optional) Train‑the‑Trainer.

  • Workshop‑first: 30‑min discovery → targeted workshop(s) → option to add Diagnostic for evidence and scale.

 Why this works

  • Achieve, don’t just write. We change behavior, rhythm, and focus.

  • Install, don’t embed. 2–4 weeks to self‑sufficiency.

  • Executive‑grade. ≤6‑page briefs; decisions tomorrow.

  • Outcomes‑first. Alignment, on‑time decisions, visible bets.

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Outcomes you can expect

  • Strategy execution that sticks. One weekly rhythm across Product, Engineering, Sales & CS; priorities align and finish rate rises.

  • Alignment that survives the week.

  • On-time decisions; fewer handoffs, fewer stalls.

  • MRR up; Retention up; activation faster; lead time down.

  • Less overload, more finish. Fewer WIP items; higher completion rate.

  • Clear trends; progress seen, not debated.

Who this is for

 

Leaders of digital product organizations — SaaS, platforms, services, and multi‑team engineering orgs (10+ teams).
Also works beyond software: finance, health, logistics, public sector.
Not sure?

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What clients say:


Typical outcomes
Time‑to‑Value −22% in 8 weeks • Net Revenue Retention (NRR) +6 p.p. in two quarters • Lead time −35%, MTTR −40%


 

The book: Moving the Needle with Lean OKRs

The book that shows what most OKR trainings miss: how to actually achieve them. OKRs without the theater. The playbook I use with clients to turn goals into action. One clear Objective, 3–5 KRs, a light cadence with weekly reviews and monthly checkpoints, and small bets that learn fast.


About Bart den Haak

Author of Moving the Needle with Lean OKRs. I help leadership teams move the needle on purpose—from strategy to results—with a rhythm that still works after the slides are closed.

No obligation. If we’re not a fit, you’ll still leave with next‑best steps.

 

Resources & Newsletter

I’ve written extensively about this in Moving the Needle with Lean OKRs and created a few free resources to help you get started.

 
 

Tools

Find out useful templates, examples, guides and a free OKR course.

Blog

Learn about goal setting, changing behaviour and metrics.

Book

Buy the book “Moving the Needle with Lean OKRs”

Talks

Get inspired by presentations, talks at leadership conferences, podcasts and more.

 
 
 

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