Leading Indicators Beat Lagging Ones — Every Time
Revenue is a lagging indicator. Churn is a lagging indicator. By the time they move, the cause was three months ago. Track leading ones instead.
If a metric only changes after the problem is already big, it's not a metric — it's an autopsy.
Common lagging → leading swaps
- Revenue (lagging) → Trial-to-paid conversion (leading by 30–60 days).
- Churn (lagging) → Active days per week (leading by 60-90 days).
- NPS (lagging) → Support ticket sentiment (leading by 30 days).
- Project slip (lagging) → Cycle time (leading by 2 weeks).
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