I think of metrics like I do accounting. Accounting is all about measuring parts of the business. You track every dollar sent, lost, owed, etc. Every economic t

I think of metrics like I do accounting. Accounting is all about measuring parts of the business. You track every dollar sent, lost, owed, etc. Every economic transaction is measured. But nobody wants to just stare at a list of raw transactions. You have to summarize those figures: you group them into revenues and expenses, assets and liabitilies, and you break it down by department, by function. You create a picture of what your business is doing. In the end, all some people really care about is profits, some people want a measure of solvency, others want to know how big your company is. Accountants have actually has thought deeply about metrics and written papers about why the measure what they do and I think something close to the golden rule is: does this information have the capacity to influence someone's decision? Information is meant to help you make a decision: should we add more servers, should we end this service, can we sell this feature, are our customers satisfied? Every metric should help you answer a question. Ask yourself, what decisions are you trying to make and what information would help you make that decision?