Choose the Right Metrics

The text discusses the importance of measuring the right things in business and avoiding vanity metrics that superficially indicate success but are not tied to revenues or customer satisfaction. It highlights a case study of Microsoft's Bing, which initially used searches per user session as its key performance indicator (KPI), leading to perverse incentives for developers. The text emphasizes the need for sanity checks using customer satisfaction metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS) and suggests that metrics should generally provide evidence that a team is making money or solving problems for customers. It concludes by advising against vanity metrics and encouraging businesses to connect their metrics to the bottom line for actionable insights.