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

658·40

north-star metric

/ˈnɔːrθ.stɑːr ˈmɛt.rɪk/ - n.

1 [colloq.] The metric everyone steers by until the next reorg picks a different star.Keep. Punchy.This is the problem.

Working definition

2. A single metric chosen to align an organization on the value it delivers to customers.

Evidence
See also
  • metric definitionThe document everyone cites and no one has read since the analyst who wrote it left.
  • okrLast quarter's aspirations, reformatted as this quarter's data model.
  • vanity metricA number that goes up to make a slide feel better and a quarter look busier.