Why Measurement Is Essential—and How to Choose Metrics That Matter

Picture a well-intentioned team whose main goal is to 'help customers love our product.' For months, they try to launch features and resolve complaints, but when asked at quarter’s end if they succeeded, the room goes quiet. No one agrees on what 'love' looks like. After a frustrating discussion, the team leader proposes a challenge: translate their goal into numbers.

The team generates a dozen possibilities: customer retention, Net Promoter Score, sales growth, reduction in support tickets, and even positive tweets. They debate vigorously, realizing that easy-to-measure metrics like 'tickets closed' don’t tell the whole story, and high sales could come with a side order of bad reviews.

They settle on three Key Results: retention rate, average satisfaction survey rating, and the percentage of customers who would recommend their product. To avoid 'metric tunnel vision,' they add a balancing metric: watch for a spike in complaints. For the first time, everyone knows how to link daily actions to real outcomes.

Behavioral science calls this 'operationalization'—making abstract goals concrete and measurable. Measurement guides attention, nudges motivation, and highlights when tactics work or backfire. The real win is not just picking a number, but learning which signals truly reflect your objective—so your focus stays true.

It's time to make your aspirations concrete. Restate your big goal so you know, without a doubt, whether you’re making progress. List every metric or observation that could signal success, then rank and select just two or three that really matter and motivate you (and your group) to act. Always consider what side effects your metrics could trigger, and set a counterbalance if needed. This way you’ll steer clear of accidental loopholes and stay true to what you set out to achieve. Don’t move forward until you have clarity—grab a pen and tackle these steps tonight.