// okrs after an acquisition

OKRs after an acquisition. Integrate how you run, not just the ledger.

Most integrations stop at the finance system. The acquired team keeps its own goals, rhythm and language, and two companies carry on side by side. We bring them onto one way of running without flattening what made them worth buying.

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// what makes it hard
01

Two goal systems, both defended

Each side believes its way works, and each side is partly right.

02

The best habits get lost

The things that made the acquired team good are the first to go in an integration.

03

Uncertainty makes everything political

Every change to how goals work reads as a signal about who won.

None of these is a framework problem. All of them are people problems.

// we've lived it

The nuances, the personalities, the detractors and the advocates.

Every enterprise implementation has the same cast. Managing them well is most of the job, and it's the part that can't be learned from a book.

The detractor with the best objection

Often the most experienced person in the room. We bring the objection out early and use it to make the system better, so they end up defending it.

The advocate who wants to go faster

Enthusiasm is precious and easy to burn. We give advocates a role, not a mandate, so they pull people in rather than push them away.

The leader defending what works

Usually right about something. We name what their team does best before asking them to change anything else.

The quiet majority, watching

They decide whether it sticks, by watching what happens to the first team through. We sequence for what that teaches.

Method can be written down. Navigating this can't. It's what ten years in the room with leadership teams gives you.

// how we run it
How it starts
An Approach & Plan
A look, a plan and a commitment to better.
The Work
4 quarters
Evolving and improving your OKR implementation.
The Experience
Enjoyable & effective
Teams will love the new, improved ways to plan and report.
One Company
Aligned & faster
One better, unified way of operating.
15+ enterprise organisations, including
Legal & GeneralAbsaFNBSAPMicrosoftSageJaguar Land RoverRolls-RoyceNews UKITVASOSVirgin Atlantic
// questions to ask

Q&A

When should you introduce OKRs after an acquisition? +

As soon as the integrated leadership team is clear. Waiting lets two operating rhythms harden side by side, which makes convergence harder later.

What if the acquired company already uses OKRs? +

Then start by naming what they do well. Converge on shape and rhythm, keep their strengths visibly, and both sides end up with something better than either had.

How do you avoid losing what worked? +

Survey both sides before changing anything, name each team's strengths out loud, and keep valuable exceptions on purpose rather than flattening them for consistency.

// related
Enterprise OKR ImplementationThe full approach, from first look to one way of running. See the approach →
OKRs for Large CompaniesThousands of people, one standardRead → OKRs for MultinationalsOne rhythm, many marketsRead → Multi-divisional OKRsOne group, one way of runningRead → Enterprise OKRs PodcastLeaders who have done it at scaleRead →

We'll show you how it works and share case studies.

Then you decide.

Book a meeting →