Frameworks

Compare metric trees with other popular measurement frameworks. Learn how OKRs, balanced scorecards, AARRR pirate metrics, and North Star frameworks fit together.

Compare metric trees with OKRs, balanced scorecards, pirate metrics (AARRR), and North Star frameworks. Find the right measurement framework for your team.

8 guides

Chapters
01OKR vs KPI: the false choice
02What OKRs do well
03What OKRs miss
04What metric trees add
05How to connect OKRs to a metric tree
06The persistence advantage
07When to use each framework
GuideFrameworks
OKRs and metric trees: how they work together
Every article about OKRs and KPIs frames them as competing frameworks. They are not. OKRs set direction and ambition. Metric trees provide the structural understanding of cause and effect that makes every key result more rigorous. Here is how they work together.
View guide9 min read
Chapters
01The short answer
02What is the Balanced Scorecard?
03Where the Balanced Scorecard falls short
04How metric trees solve these limitations
05When to use each
06From Balanced Scorecard to metric tree
GuideFrameworks
Balanced Scorecard vs metric tree
The Balanced Scorecard has shaped how organisations measure performance for over thirty years. Metric trees take a fundamentally different approach. This guide compares the two frameworks honestly, explains where each excels, and helps you decide which one fits your business.
View guide8 min read
Chapters
01What is Goodhart's Law?
02Real-world examples of Goodhart's Law
03Why metrics get gamed
04How to design metrics that resist gaming
05How metric trees help prevent Goodhart's Law
06The deeper lesson
GuideFrameworks
Goodhart's Law and metric design
When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. Goodhart's Law is the single most important concept in metric design, and most organisations learn it the hard way. This guide explains why metrics get gamed, how to spot it, and how to build measurement systems that resist it.
View guide9 min read
Chapters
01Why OKR tracking fails
02The check-in cadence that actually works
03Scoring methods compared
04How metric trees make OKR check-ins diagnostic
05Connecting key results to leading indicators
06What to do when OKRs go off track mid-quarter
07Putting it all together
GuideFrameworks
How to track OKR progress with metric trees
Most OKR programmes fail not at the goal-setting stage but at the tracking stage. Teams write ambitious objectives in January and discover in March that nobody checked whether they were on course. This guide covers the check-in cadence, scoring methods, and diagnostic techniques that turn OKRs from quarterly wish lists into a genuine performance system, with metric trees as the structural backbone.
View guide9 min read
Chapters
01Why metrics change behaviour
02Five behavioural principles behind effective metrics
03How metric trees amplify these principles
04The dark side: when metrics backfire
05Designing metrics for behaviour change
06The metric tree as a nudge architecture
07From measurement to understanding
GuideFrameworks
Metrics and behavioural science: why measurement changes behaviour
Metrics are not neutral instruments. Every metric you choose is a behavioural intervention, whether you design it that way or not. This guide draws on decades of research in behavioural economics, psychology, and organisational science to explain why metrics change behaviour and how to use that power responsibly.
View guide10 min read
Chapters
01Why metrics maturity matters
02The five levels of metrics maturity
03How to recognise where you are
04How to move from one level to the next
05How metric trees accelerate maturity
06Common stalling points and how to overcome them
07A practical assessment checklist
GuideFrameworks
The metrics maturity model
Most organisations have more data than they can use and less clarity than they need. The metrics maturity model gives you a framework to assess where you are, understand what is holding you back, and chart a practical path to the next level.
View guide9 min read
Chapters
01What is the AARRR framework?
02How each AARRR stage maps to a metric tree
03Building an AARRR metric tree
04AARRR vs flat funnel dashboards
05Choosing metrics for each AARRR stage
06Using the tree to find your growth bottleneck
GuideFrameworks
AARRR pirate metrics and metric trees
Dave McClure's AARRR framework gave startups a shared language for growth. But a flat funnel only tells you which stage is underperforming, not why. A metric tree takes each pirate metrics stage and decomposes it into the drivers your teams can actually influence. This guide shows how to build an AARRR metric tree, choose the right metrics for each stage, and use the structure to find your real growth bottleneck.
View guide9 min read
Chapters
01What the North Star Framework is
02How metric trees work
03Where they overlap and where they differ
04Combining the two: the NSM becomes your tree root
05Limitations of the North Star Framework that metric trees solve
06Practical implementation
GuideFrameworks
North Star Framework vs metric trees
The North Star Framework gives your organisation a single focal metric and the input metrics that drive it. A metric tree maps every causal relationship in your business from top to bottom. This guide compares the two approaches honestly, shows where they overlap, and explains why the most effective organisations combine them.
View guide8 min read

Frameworks

OKRs and metric trees: how they work together

Balanced Scorecard vs metric tree

Goodhart's Law and metric design

How to track OKR progress with metric trees

Metrics and behavioural science: why measurement changes behaviour

The metrics maturity model

AARRR pirate metrics and metric trees

North Star Framework vs metric trees

Experience That Matters

Built by a team that's been in your shoes

Guides