The pronunciation of "Koan" is a constant mystery to our customers. So we have finally come bearing answers! ...And to answer the question you are probably thinking, no, it is not pronounced "cone".

Great question! Koan is not phonetic, so rather than sounding like "cone", Koan is pronounced "koh-an".

And to help you remember how to pronounce Koan, we've come up with some new lyrics to Celine Dion's famous hit from The Titanic, My Heart will Koan!

Want to follow along to this catchy OKR jingle? Sing along!

Curious why we named ourselves Koan and what the word "koan" actually means? Keep reading!

In Zen practice, a koan (/ˈkōän/) is a riddle or paradox that, once meditated upon, leads to enlightenment.

Finding this to be an empowering analogy for managing teams, we chose to name ourselves Koan because our product helps organizations pass along enlightenment through the practice of self-reflection at the individual and team levels. And with consistent practice, small positive behaviors, done consistently, can yield enormous results.