Metric Courtroom

A number can improve while the thing you care about gets worse. Give your favorite metric a brief hearing: what does it reveal, how could it mislead, and what other observation would expose the difference?

Defend the number → challenge it → keep, replace, or pair.

Treat a metric as a witness about reality. First make its strongest useful case. Then describe a plausible way to improve it without improving the intended outcome. Decide whether to keep it, replace it, or read it beside different evidence. Imperfection alone is not grounds for dismissal.

Try this when…

Our dashboard looks better, but the work doesn't feel better.

We celebrate this number without asking what it represents.

I can think of an easy way to hit the target badly.

I'm tempted to abandon every measure because none is perfect.

What you can use it for

Audit a dashboard

Check whether a visible score still supports the decisions being made from it.

Choose assessment evidence

Separate a convenient test result from the capability it is meant to indicate.

Inspect incentives

Notice what people could do to win a measure while damaging its purpose.