From Control to Clarity: How a Mindset shift made OKRs click

When I first learned about OKRs, I struggled. Not with the structure itself, but with the mindset shift they required.

Back then, I was a hands-on, execution-driven PM, operating more like a project manager than a product strategist. I focused on tasks, deliverables, execution. I wanted clear steps, tangible goals, things I could track and mark as “done.”

So when the conversation around outcomes vs. outputs came up in one of our leadership workshops, I found myself stuck — as did almost everyone else in the room. Writing an OKR? Easy. Writing an OKR that focused on outcomes, not just execution? That felt hard.

But years later, something clicked. And surprisingly, it wasn’t from reading another book on OKRs or studying case studies from Google. It was from somewhere else completely unexpected: Tibetan Buddhism.

⛓️‍💥The fear of letting go

One of the biggest struggles in transitioning to an outcome-driven mindset is control.

As a junior PM, I wanted certainty. I wanted a plan, a roadmap, a straight line from A to B. Anything ambiguous felt like a lack of direction.

In life, we do the same thing. We hold on to things — relationships, goals, identities — because they make us feel safe. We structure our lives around expectations, believing that if we control every detail, we’ll get the outcome we want.

But in Tibetan Buddhism, I found something different. The concept of detachment.

At first, it sounded counterintuitive. If you love something, aren’t you supposed to hold onto it? But no. Real attachment creates suffering. Because the world is unpredictable, and the more rigid we are in our expectations, the harder it is to adapt.

Buddhist philosophy teaches that letting go isn’t about not caring — it’s about focusing on states of being rather than specific, rigid plans.

And suddenly, I realized:

💡 This is exactly the problem with how many people approach OKRs.

🌀From execution to transformation

The reason I struggled to write outcome-based OKRs early in my career was because I was attached to specific actions, not end results.

I was trying to force a fixed, predefined idea of how to get there, instead of embracing a state of transformation.

Here’s the shift that happened in my thinking:

• ❌ Output mindset → “We need to launch a referral program.”
• ✅ Outcome mindset → “We want to increase organic growth by 30%.”
• ❌ Output mindset → “We need to build a new onboarding flow.”
• ✅ Outcome mindset → “We want 60% of new users to complete onboarding and make their first transaction.”

The difference? Flexibility.

With an output mindset, I was clinging to a specific execution plan. With an outcome mindset, I was focusing on the state of success — and leaving room to adapt the path to get there.

And just like in meditation, where you don’t control your thoughts but observe and guide them, OKRs work best when they give direction without rigidity.

🧠How this changed the way I think about Product

When I started applying this mindset to my work, everything shifted:

• 🚀 I stopped obsessing over roadmaps as fixed plans. Instead, I saw them as living strategies that evolve based on new insights.
• 🔄 I embraced iteration more naturally. When an experiment didn’t work, I wasn’t frustrated — I was curious. What’s another way to get there?
• 🧘‍♀️ I let go of features and solutions that didn’t serve the outcome. Before, if I worked on something, I wanted it to be used. But now? If it didn’t drive the impact we wanted, I moved on.
• 🤝 I became better at aligning teams. Conversations changed from “We need to build this” to “Here’s the impact we want — how do we best achieve it?”

And the irony? Once I stopped focusing so hard on execution, I actually became better at execution. Because I was no longer just shipping things — I was ensuring they truly moved us forward.

🧘🏻‍♀️OKRs as a state of being

I see OKRs differently now. They’re not a roadmap. They’re not a to-do list. They’re a state of being.

They help teams align on where they want to go, but they leave room for discovery, iteration, and change.

And when you stop gripping too tightly to execution, you free yourself to focus on what really matters — the transformation you’re trying to create.

Just like in life. Just like in meditation. Just like in product.

(And as I continue mentoring and reflecting on these topics, I’m compiling my thoughts into a Product Management 101 doc in my Notion account — more on that soon!)