I’ve seen a lot of teams measure everything. Velocity. Cycle time. Story points. Bugs. Dashboards filled up. But the conversations stayed empty…
Sometimes it felt like we were proving how busy we were. Not how much we were learning. After years of working with agile teams, I realised something simple.
Measuring only works when a team is ready to look honestly at what it sees.
That’s why I created The Experiment Triangle. A simple way to help teams decide when to measure, what to measure, and why. It didn’t come from theory. It came from experience, frustration, and a lot of failed attempts to make metrics meaningful. Measuring might be easy. Measuring at the right moment isn’t.
Why measuring often changes nothing
We measure what’s easy. Velocity. Tickets. Dashboards that turn green. We discuss the score, not the behaviour behind it. We easily confuse output with growth. And that’s when data loses its value. It feels safe, but it hides what’s really going on.
When measuring actually works
The best teams i’ve worked with don’t start with frameworks or KPIs.
They start with questions. To know if your team is ready to measure. You can follow the Why → When → What steps to find out i
1️⃣ Why
👉 What do we want to learn?
👉 What will we do if the data hurts?
👉 What changes if we find something uncomfortable?
2️⃣ When
👉 Is there enough rhythm and trust to talk honestly about results?
👉 Can we discuss outcomes without blame or ego?
3️⃣ What
👉 Choose one or two signals that show behaviour, not just activity.
👉 Lead time, flow efficiency, customer impact, team energy.
If a metric doesn’t start a real conversation, it’s not the right one.
What the strongest teams learned
The best teams in Europe aren’t just data-driven… They’re learning-driven. I’ve studied five of them:
ING moved faster once every release became an experiment.
Spotify measures how fast teams learn, not just how fast they deliver.
Booking.com made it cheap to be wrong and valuable to be curious.
bol.com turned doubt into a process.
About You built SCAYLE to share its own systems and learned even more by teaching others.
👉 Read my full longread and find out what your team can learn from Europe’s fastest learners.
When measuring actually works
I’ve seen a pattern in how the strongest teams work with measurement.
They never start with dashboards. They start with questions.
Three simple angles: Why, When, and What.
That’s why I made the Experiment Triangle to make it visible.
1️⃣ Why is about learning, not proving
Ask one clear question that matters now.
The kind that starts curiosity, not defence.
For example:
☝️ “Why do items sit in review for days?”
✌️ “What really happens after users click start?”
At ING, this mindset turned every release into a small bet.
Each change came with a one-line hypothesis.
If something hurt, they changed the system and not the people.
2️⃣ What is about behaviour, not activity
Choose a signal that shows how work really flows.
For instance:
👉 Lead time when delivery feels heavy
👉 Task success when users get stuck
👉 Change failure rate when releases hurt
Spotify pairs this with their learning velocity.
Not how fast they ship, but how fast they discover and adjust.
3️⃣ Finally When is about timing and safety
Great teams don’t measure to feel in control.
They measure when there is enough rhythm to talk honestly.
You can hear it (or not) in the room.
Calm voices. Clear rituals. Space for doubt.
At bol.com they even made doubt a habit.
Before decisions they asked, “How do we know this is true?”
That question decided whether it was the right time to look at the numbers together.
The Experiment Triangle gives you a clean conversation
Why keeps it meaningful. No vanity metrics.
What keeps it practical. One signal that leads to a decision.
When keeps it humane. No blame.
Booking.com brings it all together.
Why is always a hypothesis.
What is one signal that tells a story worth reusing.
When is clear… They measure within guardrails and always have a stop rule.
Two signs you’re using the triangle well
✅ The metric starts a real dialogue. People lean in.
✅ A small decision follows. Try this. Stop that. Keep learning.
Two signs you’re not
❌ You collect numbers no one discusses.
❌ You chase a score and nothing changes.
That’s how the best learners use it.
Purpose first. Honesty next. Then one signal that helps the team move.
Your 1% habit for this week
Like every week i have a little assignment you can try. This section will be renamed to the 1% habit for this week. Since it’s a small step to make huge impact. So this week. again… Keep it small!
Pick one metric in your team that feels safe but doesn’t really say anything.
Bring it to your next retro.
Ask together:
What should this number actually tell us?
What would need to change for it to have meaning?
That’s all… No framework… No overhaul Just a conversation.
Because that’s where real improvement begins. When a team talks honestly about what its data really means.
Book of the week
Experimentation Works – Stefan Thomke
A practical look at how great companies build experimentation into their culture. Real cases. Real lessons. No hype. If your team wants to move from measuring to learning, this is where to start.
But… If you’re new to this, read Lean Analytics next. It helps you find which metric really matters right now.
Before you go remember this…
Measuring isn’t proof of progress.
Learning is.
Start small.
One metric.
One conversation.
One habit of honesty.
That’s how growth starts.
Not in the data.
But in the dialogue.
Want more?
Thank you for reading my newsletter this week. If you want inspiration to get started with learning. Download my Metrics Universe Sheet. It includes 70 things you can measure to spark better conversations.
Use it as a mirror, not a scoreboard. Hope you like it.
For you as a reader it’s 50% off for this week with code METRICS50
And before you go.. Let me know what you think. Tips, idea’s or feedback… I’m ready to learn. Till next time 👋.