The Metric That Changed the Game

A support team wanted to answer customers more quickly, so its manager began tracking the number of tickets closed each day. The total rose within a month. On the dashboard, the change looked like a clear improvement. Yet customers started contacting the team again about problems that had supposedly been resolved.

The team had not suddenly become less capable. The new target made quick closure more attractive than careful investigation. Simple requests received attention first, while complicated ones were passed between staff members. Some replies solved only the easiest part of a problem. The number measured activity, but the manager had interpreted it as evidence of successful service.

The manager kept the original measure but added repeat-contact rates and sampled feedback about whether problems were actually solved. These measures were imperfect too, and reviewing them took time. Their value came from revealing different parts of the work. A useful metric can guide attention; when it becomes the entire goal, it can also encourage people to improve the number while weakening the result it was meant to represent.