← DictionaryMetric
A single measured value used to describe performance.
One number you track.
What It Is
In the BWH map, Metric lives under Measurement — Foundations. In practice it means this: a single measured value used to describe performance.
It is an idea you reason with rather than a deliverable you hand over, so two teams can both hold it correctly and still apply it differently. Keep it that plain and it will still be true in twelve months.
How It's Used
You will usually meet Metric in reporting, analytics reviews and the arguments about what the numbers mean. It is usually discussed together with Key Performance Indicator, Benchmark and Vanity Metric. The practical test is whether a decision changes because of it.
Why It Matters
Metric is cheap to get right early and awkward to fix late. When it is unclear, reporting becomes a matter of opinion. It is worth pinning down before anyone builds on top of it.
It is a way of thinking, not a thing you can hold. One number you track.
Termshift™
How the meaning shifts depending on who is using it, and where.
Practitioners use Metric as shorthand and expect no explanation — a single measured value used to describe performance.
Outside the industry, most people would just say: one number you track.
The Bottom Line
Keep Metric plain: one number you track. That is the version that holds up in a real project.