KPIs

September 2026

• Sep 28, 2026ConceptsLeading vs Lagging Indicators ExplainedA leading indicator is a bet: it encodes your theory about what drives the outcome, which is why it has to be both predictive and something you can actually influence. This guide contrasts the two kinds of measurement across timing, actionability and certainty, then covers the three ways leading indicators fail: they get gamed when the number becomes the target, the assumed link to the outcome quietly breaks, and too many of them dilute focus.7 MIN1.1k

February 2026

• Feb 8, 2026ConceptsKPIs Explained Without BuzzwordsAll KPIs are metrics, but very few metrics are KPIs. Drucker's line that what gets measured gets managed has a corollary: measure everything and you manage nothing well. The 3-7 rule per strategic goal exists because nobody holds more than about seven items in working memory, so if you cannot recall your KPIs without looking them up, you have too many. Leading against lagging indicators, and why counting meetings or lines of code measures activity rather than outcome.18 MIN3.4k
• Feb 5, 2026ConceptsWhat Should Be Measured and WhyA metric deserves tracking only if it aligns with a real goal, is actionable, can be collected reliably, either predicts or measures an outcome, and is not redundant. The article separates outcomes from outputs and drivers, caps each goal at three to seven metrics, and reframes selection through Hubbard's point that a measurement is worth making when the uncertainty it removes is worth more than its cost.20 MIN70.4k

November 2025

• Nov 24, 2025TechnologyUnderstanding Key SEO Metrics for PerformanceGoogle withdrew organic keyword data starting in 2011 and nearly completely by 2013 to 2014, leaving most referring keywords as (not provided). Practitioners predicted measurement would become impossible. The opposite happened: it forced frameworks connecting search performance to behavior, conversions and revenue instead of treating rankings as the end. Most SEO reporting still fails to answer whether engagement produced business outcomes, which is why programs get cut.25 MIN15.5k

September 2025

• Sep 13, 2025IdeasMeasurement Tools for Performance TrackingWhat gets measured gets managed, as Ridgway noted in 1956, even when measuring it is pointless or harms the organization. Most tracking tools count things without saying whether the counts predict anything, so teams optimize vanity metrics and game dashboards while the business deteriorates. A team can be 80 percent through its task list without having validated the core algorithm. Separating validation, execution and impact milestones fixes what a percentage bar hides.43 MIN36.8k

August 2025

• Aug 17, 2025IdeasKey Issues in Measurement and MetricsA hospital published ER wait times and they fell dramatically, but patients were triaged faster then waited longer in treatment rooms: the system optimized time to first clinical contact while total treatment time got worse. Charles Goodhart observed in 1975 that any statistical regularity collapses once pressure is placed on it for control. The streetlight effect explains why: lines of code are easy to count, so they stand in for productivity.20 MIN52.5k

July 2025

• Jul 10, 2025ExplainersMetrics Design ChecklistA cross-selling target of eight products per customer was well intentioned, easy to count and catastrophic: Wells Fargo paid $185 million in 2016, later growing past $3 billion. The checklist works through 16 checks in four phases, from goal alignment and a gaming pre-mortem to leading indicators and a retirement process. Flyvbjerg's 258 transport projects across 20 nations make the case: nine in ten overran, by roughly 20 percent on roads and 45 percent on rail.22 MIN46.7k
• Jul 2, 2025ExplainersKPIs vs OKRs: Key Differences ExploredDrucker's MBO had managers and employees set objectives jointly, but it merged the goal with the proof of achievement and left both vague. Grove's requirement in High Output Management was that every objective carry specific measurable key results. That structural separation is why OKRs worked where MBO often failed. KPIs monitor steady-state health with no end date; OKRs are time-boxed and drive change, and conflating them produces systems that do neither well.22 MIN44.6k

June 2025

• Jun 16, 2025ExplainersStep-by-Step: Designing Effective MetricsMetrics shape behavior whether or not they measure the right thing, so gaming follows wherever stakes are attached. A Department of Justice investigation found Baltimore officers downgrading shootings and pressuring victims to withdraw reports under CompStat. Payment can also crowd out motive: Swiss communities offered compensation for a nuclear waste site accepted it at 25%, down from 51% with no money offered.36 MIN38.4k

August 2022

• Aug 4, 2022Work SkillsThe Cobra Effect: Risks in Gaming MetricsThat single distinction explains why the same number cannot serve both purposes, and why diagnostic metrics stay honest while bonus-linked ones drift. The NHS supplies the clearest evidence. After four-hour emergency targets arrived, ambulance handovers were delayed at hospital entrances so the clock did not start, and Bevan and Hood found each new target generated fresh gaming within weeks of implementation. The parallel results are Campbell's Law and the Lucas Critique.17 MIN4.5k