North Star Metric

A north star metric is the one number a team rallies behind because it tracks real delivered value, not vanity. Picked well, you literally cannot move it without making customers better off; picked badly, you optimise a proxy and quietly drift from the point.

The choice is a values statement disguised as analytics. “Time on site” rewards addiction; “jobs completed” rewards usefulness. I spend real effort on that choice, because everything downstream optimises toward whatever you name.