article thumbnail

Don’t Be Tyrannized by Old Metrics

Harvard Business

While effective metrics are essential for focusing attention and achieving results, they can also overpower better sense. Most industries cower to a few central metrics, the yardsticks that define the winners and losers. Metrics tried and proven over years become a guide to what’s important, driving resource allocation.

Metrics 28
article thumbnail

You Don’t Have to Be a Software Company to Think Like One

Harvard Business

You’re competing against platforms like Uber in transportation, Google in automotive, Airbnb in hospitality, LinkedIn in recruiting, Netflix in television, and the list goes on. Key performance metrics, such as “intent to return,” driven by expensive tickets and long lines, were worsening.