KPIs- Performance or Vanity Metrics

KPIs - Performance or Vanity Metrics?

In the Panchatantra, there’s a story of crows and owls at war. The crows didn’t win with strength—they won with strategy, knowing which moves mattered and which were just noise. Leaders today face the same dilemma with KPIs: not every number is worth the battle.

In the data flood we live in, dashboards resemble a Diwali bazaar—rows of lights, bling everywhere, but which bulb is powering EBITDA and which is just for show? Focussing on Vanity metrics with zero impact? Vanity Metrics are the business equivalent of bad selfies—flattering with zero substance.

The challenge? Too often KPIs are picked for convenience, not consequence. They don’t ladder back to strategy. The fix: choose ruthlessly, measure what drives performance, and refresh before they fossilize.

KPIs should be based on overarching objectives across organization—not in silos. (Silos create mixed priorities). For eg, P2P’s focus should align with (IBP, NPD, Capacity) O2C down to S&D.

Strategic Goals cascading down to key metrics across departments drive drive collaboration, transparency, and focused performance improvement, delivering clear line of sight and net positive results.

Working on culture of ‘Change’ further compliments, and keeps the performance well-oiled.

The real deal comes from a balanced scorecard—tying financial outcomes, operational agility, and change adoption into one narrative that speaks EBITDA. Procurement savings that hold, supply chains that flex, teams that actually embrace change—that’s where numbers stop lying.

Caution: Watch out for the departmental “Thick Caveats” and “Siloed Buffers” that create barriers, delays, affect performance-agility, resistance and mis-aligned goals. At the end of the day everyone is working on Cost to Serve. 

???? As the Panchatantra teaches: wisdom isn’t about knowing everything, but knowing the right thing(s),  asking the right questions, measuring the right parameters. The same goes for KPIs—ignore the vanity, chase the value. Time for an overhaul!