How OKR Writing in Corporate America Sharpened My Approach to IEP Goals

During my time at Google, I spent every quarter writing and reviewing OKRs, a well-known goal-setting framework that kept nearly 200,000 employees marching in the same direction. It was tedious, and sometimes I hated it (maybe more than sometimes 😉), but after a while I could easily spot a weak goal from a strong one. And when I later found myself staring at the goals in my daughter’s IEP, those same instincts kicked in. The truth is, vague goals waste time in corporate america, just as they do the same in special education. But clear, well-written, structured goals can change outcomes. Suddenly, the same skills I had honed for the corporate world became a powerful tool in advocating for my child’s education.

If you are not familiar, OKRs are a framework pioneered at Intel and popularized by John Doerr’s book Measure What Matters. The model is deceptively simple: define a clear Objective (what you want to achieve) and 3 to 5 measurable Key Results (how you will know you are achieving it). The genius of OKRs is that they force clarity. No fluff. No vague aspirations. You must commit to what success looks like and how you will measure it.

Within the OKR world, there is also the SMART framework. My old Google boss would often ask of us as we all sat down to write….are your OKRs SMART? What did she mean?

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Relevant, and

Time-bound.

As annoying as it was, I have to admit it was a useful framework to ground us as we sought to achieve structure and accountability. And while the language is corporate, the principles carry over seamlessly to IEP goal-writing.

Think about the difference. A weak IEP goal might read: “Student will improve reading skills.” That is as unhelpful as an OKR that says, “Team will grow revenue.” Both are vague, broad, and impossible to track. A stronger IEP goal, reframed through the OKR and SMART lens, might read: “By June, student will read a 5-sentence passage with no more than 2 decoding errors, in 3 out of 4 trials.” Now we have specificity, measurement, and a clear endpoint.

The overlap between OKRs and IEP goals is not about importing corporate jargon into education. It is about learning to write goals that are disciplined, focused, and fair. Goals that set up your child for success… and serve as the baseline for their educators in terms of accountability and progress.

Writing great OKRs was once a necessary skill for me to survive and thrive in corporate america. And just as strong OKRs opened doors in my career, strong IEP goals opened doors for my child.

If you need help writing OKR-like IEP goals, let AdvoPal help you. Book a consult for a case review, and together we can shape IEP goals that reflect your child’s potential in language befitting an IEP meeting or a corporate boardroom.

In solidarity,

Eunice W.

AdvoPal Founder