Most companies don’t have a data problem. They have a politics problem.
The Hidden Problem: Politics, Not Data
Many companies proudly state they want to work data-driven.
Yet inside, politics and silos get in the way.
- Marketing wants one KPI
- Product wants another
- Management pushes a third
Teams debate endlessly about whose numbers count.
The result: no clear direction, slow decisions, and data projects that end in frustration rather than impact.
The Real Fix: Company-Wide Alignment
The solution isn’t another dashboard.
It’s sitting together and creating company-wide goals that are crystal clear.
Once the ultimate business goal is set, every team maps out:
- What KPI do we own?
- How does it connect to other teams?
- How do we measure progress toward the shared goal?
This creates accountability, clarity, and removes politics.
How Metrics-Chain Helps
This is where Performance-Driven Design (PDD) comes in.
The metrics-chain is the tool that links it all together:
- UX metrics → Product metrics → Business metrics
It shows how each team contributes to the ultimate goal.
Not “my KPI vs your KPI” — but a connected chain of impact.
A Real Example: E-Commerce Conversion
At one e-commerce client, we worked with a data analyst to focus on conversion.
- Spot the drops: We looked at GA-data to see where users dropped off in the funnel.
- Hypothesize: Why are they leaving here?
- Validate: Surveys, usability tests, and interviews confirmed the issues.
- Design & Test: We created solutions, tested them through usability and A/B experiments.
- Learn: The key step. Instead of just picking a winner, we dug into why something worked.
Many companies skip this last part. But to truly improve, you need to understand what drives your customer — their motivation, fears, and goals. That’s where real progress comes from.
The Takeaway
Being data-driven is not about adding more reports.
It’s about shared goals, joined KPIs, and continuous learning.
A metrics-chain helps teams see how their work connects.
But the real shift comes when everyone aligns on one company-wide goal and learns together from the data.
Next Step
If your company struggles with silos, start small:
- Define one clear business goal.
- Map every team’s KPI to that goal in a metrics-chain.
- Focus on learning, not just picking winners.
👉 Want help turning this into a repeatable system? Let’s connect — I help companies align goals and drive growth with Performance-Driven Design.
