Leading vs Lagging KPIs: Rethinking Our Metrics for Better Leadership!

Obvious? Not Really

Originally posted on December 24, 2024

A recent conversation with Xavier Chevallier, Director of our digital banking at Bpifrance, got me thinking about our approach to metrics. How can we shift from a reactive mindset (lagging) to a proactive one (leading)?

Here are some indicator pairs that illustrate this complex transition:

💻 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 Today: Number of production bugs Target: Delivery velocity as a health indicator Not easy to convince people that deploying more frequently actually reduces risks!

🏗️ 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 Today: Infrastructure costs Target: Adoption of reusable components to balance technical debt and time-to-market The daily battle between "doing it fast" and "doing it right"... A classic challenge!

🌱 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Today: Features delivered Target: Guaranteed exploration time to protect innovation when everything is "urgent" Still an ongoing battle 😎

Our experience shows this transition is gradual. Each team progresses at its own pace, depending on its maturity and specific challenges. Moving to leading indicators is a journey, not a destination.

🤔 Where are you in this evolution? What indicators do you use?

#Leadership #ProductManagement #LeanManagement #KPI #OKR #Impact

🍾 And happy holidays to everyone!