Metrics are everywhere—dashboards, reports, scorecards. But despite the abundance of data, many organizations still struggle to make better decisions or drive real change. A recent Forrester report noted that 74% of firms want to be data-driven, but only 29% say they’re successful at connecting analytics to action. The problem isn’t a lack of metrics—it’s the wrong ones getting the most attention.
What Makes a Metric Matter?
Not all metrics are created equal. The ones that truly matter share a few critical qualities:
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Tied to action – A good metric leads to decisions or behaviors. If it doesn't guide what you do next, it may be just noise.
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Outcome-oriented – It measures results, not just activity. Think outcomes over outputs.
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Contextual – A meaningful metric reflects your specific goals, customers, and business model.
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Owned – Someone is responsible for it—and empowered to affect it.
Why Most Metrics Don’t Matter
So why do so many dashboards fall short? Because they’re full of numbers that check a box but don’t move the business. Here are some common issues:
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Vanity metrics – They look impressive but offer little insight (e.g., followers, visits, hours logged).
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Overload – When everything is tracked, nothing stands out. Teams lose sight of what matters most.
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Lagging only – Metrics that reflect the past without pointing to future action miss the opportunity to course-correct.
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Disconnected – Metrics that don’t map to actual objectives or daily work often lead to misalignment and disengagement.
A Harvard Business Review study found that only 29% of KPIs tracked by executives are considered "highly aligned" with business strategy. Additionally, the same study reported that organizations tracking too many misaligned metrics experience reduced agility and lower employee engagement.
How to Choose the Right Metrics
Identifying and implementing the right metrics is harder than it sounds. It requires clarity on your goals, a deep understanding of how work actually gets done, and agreement across teams on what success looks like. Too often, organizations default to what's easiest to measure or what looks good on a report—rather than what genuinely drives performance. The right metrics usually require deeper understanding, better data alignment, and commitment to continuous improvement.
Focus on a few high-impact metrics that:
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Drive decisions and behavior
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Are within someone’s control or influence
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Reflect what matters to customers, employees, or outcomes
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Can be tracked consistently and interpreted clearly
If a metric doesn’t spark a conversation, influence a decision, or help a team improve—it probably doesn’t belong on your dashboard.
Remember, don’t measure what’s easy—measure what matters. The right metrics don’t just tell you where you’ve been. They help you decide where to go next.