# Metric Tree (North Star)

**Framework:** North Star → driver → operational metric decomposition  
**Use for:** Connecting one top-level metric to the operational metrics teams can actually move  
**Time required:** 1–2 hours with the team

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## How to use this template

1. Pick ONE North Star — the single metric that best captures the value you deliver to customers. Revenue alone is usually not it; it's the outcome, not the value.
2. Break it into 3–5 driver metrics that mathematically or causally roll up to it. If a driver moves, the North Star should move.
3. Break each driver into operational metrics a specific team owns and can change this quarter.
4. Tag each metric leading or lagging. Lagging tells you what already happened; leading tells you what's about to.
5. Stop at the level a team can act on. A tree nobody owns at the leaves is a diagram, not a system.

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## Header

| Field | Detail |
|-------|--------|
| Team / scope | [Name] |
| Owner | [Name] |
| Date | [Date] |
| Review cadence | [Weekly / Monthly] |

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## North Star

*One metric. State it, and why it represents real customer value.*

| North Star metric | Why it captures value |
|-------------------|-----------------------|
| [e.g., weekly active teams] | [The value proxy] |

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## Driver metrics (level 2)

*Three to five metrics that roll up to the North Star. Each should have a clear relationship to it.*

| Driver metric | Relationship to North Star | Leading / Lagging | Owner |
|---------------|----------------------------|-------------------|-------|
| [Driver 1] | [How it rolls up] | [Leading / Lagging] | [Team] |
| [Driver 2] | [How it rolls up] | [Leading / Lagging] | [Team] |
| [Driver 3] | [How it rolls up] | [Leading / Lagging] | [Team] |

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## Operational metrics (level 3)

*The metrics each team moves week to week. These are where work actually changes the number.*

| Under driver | Operational metric | Leading / Lagging | Owning team |
|--------------|--------------------|-------------------|-------------|
| [Driver 1] | [Metric] | [Leading / Lagging] | [Team] |
| [Driver 1] | [Metric] | [Leading / Lagging] | [Team] |
| [Driver 2] | [Metric] | [Leading / Lagging] | [Team] |
| [Driver 3] | [Metric] | [Leading / Lagging] | [Team] |

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## Sanity checks

- [ ] If every operational metric improved, the North Star would clearly rise
- [ ] No driver is a vanity metric (up-and-to-the-right but disconnected from value)
- [ ] Every leaf metric has a single owning team
- [ ] There is at least one leading metric per driver, not only lagging ones

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*A good metric tree turns one company-level number into work a team can do on Monday. More on metrics and decision infrastructure at biztechprimer.com.*