Metrics are a good tool for data-driven decision making. Standardized1 metrics and metric sets, such as DORA, have become popular with tech-managers. Maybe the idea of the metrics has been spread with (the same) consultants in the field, or maybe the managers just like comparing their things to the things of others…
Well-defined metrics enable comparing values between teams, locations, and organizations to easily see who is doing the best and who the worst. Look – mine is bigger than yours?
Most likely, you shouldn’t be bothered with such comparisons. Comparing the deployment frequency of a software that controls a nuclear power plant to a tic-tac-toe mobile game is possibly slightly absurd.
The generalized target values for “good” and “bad” in these metrics may not be relevant for your project. As mentioned somewhere before, focusing only on the metrics may mislead you to master the metrics but not your product.
Having your own targets and following your own progress even with standardized metrics is allowed – maybe even recommended!
- Standardized but likely vague metrics ↩︎