I think your counterexamples reveal why those metrics work: * In baseball, batting average and OPS require you to compete against other teams. * In finance, R

I think your counterexamples reveal why those metrics work: * In baseball, batting average and OPS require you to compete against other teams. * In finance, ROI is tested in the marketplace. * In sales, conversions require you to convince a skeptical customer. The software metrics are all things we have fairly direct control over. Maybe that suggests an amendment to Godhart's law: > When a measure that is controlled by the measuree becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.