> I really ought to read an OKR book, because the telephone-game version I hear about seems problematic.

I've read John Doerr's Measure What Matters OKR book and personally used OKRs for a few quarters. Google's re:Work site about OKRs is short and adequate summary:

https://rework.withgoogle.com/guides/set-goals-with-okrs/ste...