Rethinking measurement for better outcomes

Are your metrics enabling Better Value Sooner Safer Happier? Why do we need to talk about metrics now?

Most organisations have various delivery dashboards, OKR trackers, and risk reports as ways to measure performance. But more often than not, organisations are measuring what is easy, not what is useful.

Many current measurement systems reflect legacy mindsets. They are designed for control, not learning. They focus on status reporting, not flow. These systems might provide a lot of data but not necessarily actionable insights. They seldom tell us whether we are actually delivering better outcomes for customers or the enterprise.

In a world that is shifting from project to product, from silos to flow, from output to outcome, the way we measure must evolve too. Metrics should act as a mirror and a compass - showing us where we are and helping us move forward.

What does a good measurement system look like?

A well-designed system of measurement has these characteristics:

Is treated like a product, i.e., has a purpose and outcomes
Provides insights on end-to-end strategy to execution flow
Helps us understand system health
Inspires and informs action to drive further improvement
Is a balanced set of measures and a mix of leading and lagging indicators
Is integrated into operating rhythm and is not just for reporting channels
Enables learning in a safe way - not used to punish or blame

What to measure to enable better outcomes?

We recommend a holistic set of metrics to create a balanced scorecard to track Better, Value, Sooner, Safer and Happier across all levels of the organisation.

Better: Are we delivering quality solutions and maintaining technical health and operational continuity?
Value: Are we delivering the right value aligned to customer needs and our strategic ambition?
Sooner: Are we reducing time to deliver value? How quickly are we learning and making the right decisions?
Safer: Are we managing delivery and operational risks? How compliant and safe are our processes and systems?
Happier: Are our customers happy with the value we are providing them? Are our people engaged, supported and improving? How are we creating a positive impact for our community and climate?

Each component measures both leading and lagging indicators. Leading indicators give early signals that help us adapt, and lagging indicators validate whether our past actions achieved the desired outcomes. Together, they enable continuous learning and course correction.

Measurement must become a core part of how you improve on ‘how you do what you do’ and not an afterthought.

The next question then is where do we start? You don’t need a perfect dashboard to begin. You do need to be intentional.

The key is to start where you are! Identify what is existing that you can use - your strategy and vision, external and internal signals, customer feedback and available data, KPIs and balanced scorecards, and system health data. Start small - use what you have - and evolve with learning.

A useful starting point is to ask ‘What outcomes are we aiming for?’ Then identify the decisions and insights you might need to achieve those outcomes, followed by the metrics which will give those insights!

This Outcomes-Decisions-Insights-Metrics (ODIM)^* framing can help clarify what you actually need to measure and be used to test the usefulness of existing measures.

ODIM (Outcomes, desisions, insights, metrics) framework

When you have a small, purposeful set of metrics, start by using them in rituals like planning and retrospectives to review them with your teams and make them visible. Do not aim for perfection in data quality to begin with and look for ways to iteratively improve it. Challenge the validity of the data on a regular basis and assess how they are enabling better outcomes across the organisation.

Remember metrics is not just about better data. It’s about better conversations. Better decisions. Better outcomes.

Design principles to help you build a sustainable metrics ecosystem

To design a system that enables Better Value Sooner Safer Happier, think beyond individual dashboards or KPIs. A sustainable metrics system is an ecosystem - it integrates data, tools, behaviours, and ways of working into a coherent flow that enables learning and action.

Here are design principles to build and adapt from:

Integrated layers: Bring together data from strategy & planning, finance, delivery, portfolio(s), workforce and CI/CD tools into a coherent dataset, visualised via self-serve dashboards that support insight at all levels.
Transparency by default: Make data visible across teams and levels, not to control, but to invite shared understanding. A culture of transparency accelerates alignment and helps identify where change is working.
Psychological safety: Sustainable measurement requires trust. Metrics should never be used to punish. When teams feel safe, they surface issues early and engage openly with the data.
Learning mindset: Use metrics to run experiments. Treat each measure as a hypothesis to test, not a target to hit. Leaders can model this by asking “What did we learn?” not “Why did you miss it?”
Delivery over reporting: Design metrics that show how value flows from strategy to delivery. Avoid fragmented reporting by aligning metrics across enterprise, portfolio, and team levels.
Drill-down capability: Enable drilldowns from enterprise-level patterns into team-level data. This supports both systemic insights and local actions, which are critical for continuous improvement.
Holistic coverage: Use the five BVSSH components as a balanced scorecard. Measure quality and learning (Better), alignment and impact (Value), speed and efficiency (Sooner), risk and resilience (Safer), and experience and wellbeing (Happier).

Some ideas on what you can do next

We recommend ‘Start where you are' and ‘Think big, start small, learn fast’ approach to adopting the right mindset and co-creating the metrics dashboard for your organisation.

Here are some ideas to get started:

Use this post with your team as a conversation starter and discuss ideas.
Review your existing metrics to assess their usefulness - are they giving you insights you need to make things better? What might you need to stop measuring?
Map your existing metrics against the BVSSH components to assess their coverage. Where are the gaps? What is over emphasised? How can you make your metrics more holistic?
Identify a small experiment you could do to measure what matters for your team and organisation.
Start with one team, value stream or business unit. Run a Stop-Start-Continue on current metrics. Design a simple, actionable set of leading indicators linked to outcomes. Pilot, reflect, adapt.

Don’t wait for everything to be perfect. Co-create your metrics approach, one step at a time. Happy measuring and learning!

References

ODIM Framework by Larry Maccherone - https://medium.com/@lmaccherone/odim-12d80823222

Further Learning

To deep dive further, you might also like to refer to these articles: