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Aurelius · Work & Leadership
Knowledge + Guidance

Which product metrics actually matter for our team?

You and your team are not short on numbers. You have dashboards full of them. Retention, engagement, churn, activation, NPS, velocity — all tracked, none acted on. That is the honest situation. The trouble is not ignorance. It is that no one has asked, out loud, what each number is for. A metric with no decision attached is just weather. You watch it change and feel something, then do nothing differently. So stop collecting. Start assigning. For every number on your dashboard, ask your team: what would we do differently if this moved? If no one can answer, remove it. What remains is small, and it is yours to act on.

◆ How this problem reads on the two dials
GuidanceKnowledge
More coaching
Some to learn
1:1 with AureliusWith others (a Pod)
Some one-to-one
Practise with peers
There is a short, teachable principle (metrics must map to decisions) but the real work is a team habit of cutting and committing, which only coaching builds.
How the two dials adapt to you →
What’s really going on

A metric matters only if it changes what you do next. So before counting anything, name the decision. Pick one metric per decision your team actually faces this month. If a number doesn't point to an action, you are not measuring — you are decorating.

🔒 What you’ll build togetherUnlock by starting
A moveList every metric your team currently tracks, as a group, on one page.
A moveFor each one, write the decision it is supposed to inform. If you cannot name one, cross it out.
A movePick no more than three metrics left standing. Assign one owner to each.
A moveAgree now, as a team, on what action follows if each metric moves up or down.
A moveRevisit in four weeks. Did any metric change a decision? If not, replace it.
PractiseMetric on Trial · a Pod of 4 · 30 min

What changes unlock by starting

  • A shorter, shared list of metrics everyone on the team can explain.
  • A clear decision attached to each metric, written down, not assumed.
  • Fewer dashboard meetings spent discussing numbers with no next step.
  • A team habit of asking 'what will this number make us do?' before adopting any new metric.

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