Not All Metrics Have to Be Actionable (Gasp!)
Everyone loves a good metric. As product managers, we probably proudly proclaim that we are getting better at making decisions based on data rather than gut instinct. How everyone gathers, visualizes, and uses information — in product management and beyond — has certainly changed for the better over the years. In the past, we were overloaded with data and graphs to the point where we couldn’t see the forest through the trees anymore. But now, we have learned to become more selective. Now the few, hand-picked metrics we use should all be driving decisions and be highly actionable, right?
And of course, there’s anything wrong with that. However, I’ve seen this reliance on actionable metrics go too far.
When confronted with a metric, a person’s response might be, “Why do I need to know that? Why should I care? This is interesting, but I can’t make any decision based on this; it’s not actionable for me!”
I certainly don’t want to promote useless, superfluous, or even metrics, but I would like to make a case for the intelligent use of descriptive metrics.
So, what are those? Descriptive metrics are ones that describe key characteristics of an object or process.
Why Descriptive Metrics Matter
Why should you care about descriptive metrics? Let’s consider a few examples.
You — big surprise! — inherit a house from your grandmother. Wouldn’t you want to know where it is located, how big it is, how many stories it has, when it was built, and what the property taxes are? Absolutely! Are these “metrics” actionable? Not really. There’s nothing much you can do with knowing whether it has 1 or 3 stories or the year it was built.
But are these things helpful to know? For sure.
Now for a business-related example. You are hired to run a division of a large organization. I’m sure you would care to know, for example, the number of employees of this division, the org structure, revenue, product portfolio mix, P&L, etc. Again, these are not likely to spur any immediate actions, but you can’t effectively run this division unless you understand these key characteristics.
So what is the purpose of descriptive metrics? It’s to develop a deep understanding of whatever object or process they’re describing .
