The best metrics are the ones that make us feel good about ourselves in the long term.
When a teacher sees one of his students go on to do great things, there is a sense of pride and joy that can’t be described by an A+ on a math test. When an engineer sees her designs help people who are struggling struggle a little less, she feels better than when she reduces the weight of a particular designed part by 20%.
I think we need to ditch the vanity metrics of how many likes we got on that social media post and replace them with metrics like the ones in the examples I’ve provided.
What metrics would you change about your work if you had the power to do so?