Skip to content
Vol. I · No. 251
Mon · 8 Jun
A Daily Lexicon of Trustworthy Data
The Lexicon

658·40

key performance indicator

/kiː pərˈfɔːr.məns ˈɪn.dɪ.keɪ.tər/ - n.

1 [colloq.] A number promoted to 'key' the quarter it finally looked good.Keep. Punchy.This is the problem.

Working definition

2. A quantified measure tied to an objective, used to judge whether performance is on track.

Promoted
See also
  • north-star metricThe metric everyone steers by until the next reorg picks a different star.
  • scorecardA scorecard that keeps the score but never names the player who lost.
  • vanity metricA number that goes up to make a slide feel better and a quarter look busier.