A Balanced Diet of Metrics, Strategy, and Team Chemistry
Push too hard in one direction, and nature pushes back. Forests catch fire. Rivers overflow. Ecosystems collapse. Balance is nature's resilience.
The same is true in business. When strategy gets lopsided, progress in one area can come at the unintended expense of another.
Take software development teams as an example. If a team’s goal is solely focused on speed—measured by the number of features released per sprint—quality may quickly suffer, driving bugs up and customer satisfaction down. On the other hand, a team overly focused on perfection might build exceptionally robust features, but ship so infrequently they lose competitive advantage. Neither extreme is healthy. Balance is essential.
This is where KPI trees become your best friend. KPI trees map out key metrics visually, hierarchically breaking them down and showing how they're connected. They allow teams to clearly see how changes in one metric impact others. Imagine a SaaS company. On one branch of their KPI tree, new customer acquisition is the priority, driven by metrics like signup volume and trial conversion. On another branch, retention and engagement metrics—like churn rate or average session time—highlight long-term customer value. Balancing these branches is essential. Chasing acquisition at the expense of retention is like pouring water into a leaky bucket.
But sometimes seeing multiple metrics still isn’t enough. That’s where compound metrics can be massively helpful. Compound metrics combine multiple individual KPIs into a single number that helps reveal whether competing metrics are truly working together.
For example:
Revenue per Visitor (RPV): Calculated as total revenue divided by the number of visitors. This metric combines both conversion rate (percentage of visitors who purchase) and average order value (how much customers spend per transaction). Increasing RPV ensures balanced growth through both improved customer experience and effective pricing or merchandising strategies.
Engaged Growth Rate: Calculated by multiplying new user growth rate by the percentage of active users after 30 days. A high number means you're growing fast and sustainably, balancing acquisition with meaningful user engagement.
Employee Experience Score: Calculated by multiplying employee retention rate by average employee engagement survey scores. Improving this metric balances immediate productivity with long-term organizational health.
Balance is critical for team chemistry, too. Great teams are like nature’s ecosystems: diverse personalities, backgrounds, experiences, and thinking styles naturally bring balance to decision-making. A team composed entirely of analytically-minded individuals may struggle to empathize with user experiences. A group dominated by visionary types might underestimate implementation challenges. A balanced team ensures ideas are robust, complete, and realistic.
So how do you intentionally create balance?
First, regularly run "balance checks." When setting strategic goals, ask your team: "If we achieve this, what might unintentionally suffer?"
Next, encourage cross-functional collaboration. Diverse perspectives naturally balance each other. Host workshops designed to surface insights from team members who don’t usually share input—maybe the quiet UX designer has key customer insights the sales leader overlooked.
Finally, institutionalize balance with practical tools. KPI trees and compound metrics should become routine, not one-off exercises. Embed them into your strategic planning, reviews, and retrospectives. Make balance part of your organizational DNA.
The bottom line is that just as nature thrives on balance, so do teams, strategies, and businesses. Finding and maintaining equilibrium might seem like extra effort, but neglecting it is even costlier. Balanced thinking helps you drive lasting, healthy success and avoid the unintended chaos of chasing one metric at the expense of another.
