Metrics That Matter: A Pragmatic Guide to KPIs

Every organization struggles with metrics. We either measure too much (drowning in dashboards) or too little (flying blind). The challenge isn't finding metrics—it's finding the right ones.

The Goodhart Problem

"When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure." This isn't just theory—I've seen teams optimize for metrics while destroying actual value. The solution isn't to avoid metrics, but to choose them carefully.

Three Types of Metrics

Input Metrics: What you control (features shipped, experiments run)

Output Metrics: What you achieve (revenue, retention, satisfaction)

Guardrail Metrics: What you protect (quality, security, user trust)

Most teams focus only on outputs. The magic happens when you connect all three.

Choosing Metrics That Work

**Start with the outcome**: What does success actually look like?

**Work backwards**: What behaviors drive that outcome?

**Test for gaming**: How might someone optimize this metric badly?

**Add guardrails**: What should never decrease?

A Real Example

For a B2B SaaS product, we moved from "features shipped per quarter" to:

Primary: Weekly Active Users (WAU) / Monthly Active Users (MAU)

Secondary: Feature adoption within 30 days

Guardrail: Customer satisfaction score (CSAT)

This shifted focus from shipping to adoption, while protecting quality.

The Dashboard Trap

Having 50 metrics on a dashboard means having zero metrics. Pick 3-5 that matter most. Review them weekly. Everything else is context, not a KPI.

Making It Stick

Metrics only work if teams believe in them. Involve the team in choosing metrics. Explain the reasoning. Show how they connect to company goals. And most importantly—be willing to change them when they stop working.

Good metrics guide decisions. Great metrics change behavior. Choose wisely.