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"Jo Johansson is the Content Strategist at\u00A0Geckoboard\u00A0where she plans, produces and publishes content.\u00A0This post originally appeared on the Geckoboard blog.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nEveryone loves a big number.\u00A0Startups as well as established businesses tend to boast with their growth metrics: pageviews, registered users, downloads, social following. The list goes on.\r\n\r\nEven though these metrics might be signs of traction, more often than not they\u2019re just empty numbers. The danger that lies in vanity metrics is that they can skew your perception of reality. And with a skewed perception of your business, how are you supposed to make the right decisions that will enable you to take your business in the right direction?\r\n\r\nLet\u2019s take a look at exactly how dangerous vanity metrics can be.\r\nWhat's a vanity metric?\r\nA vanity metric is a number that\u2019s easy to manipulate and isn\u2019t directly correlated to your business goals. The truth? These are just numbers that will make you feel good, but they serve no real purpose.\r\n\r\nFor example, you\u2019ve managed to acquire a big number of registered users on your site. Yay! That\u2019s great. But what you really should be looking at is Cost per Acquisition (CPA) and user activity. How much did it cost you to get these users signed up? What kind of actions can you take in order to drive the cost down? What are these users doing on your site in relation to what you want them to do?\r\n\r\nIt all comes back to how much money you\u2019re spending and how much you\u2019re earning. Simple!\r\nSteve Jobs' reality distortion field\r\nThe term reality distortion field (RDF) was coined by Bud Tribble at Apple Computer in 1981. He used it to describe Steve Jobs\u2019 presence and charisma and its effects on the people around him, in particular the people that worked for him.\r\n\r\n\u2018In his presence, reality is malleable. He can convince anyone of practically anything.\u2019\u00A0- Bud Tribble on Steve Jobs\r\n\r\nAndy Hertzfeld, a member of the original Apple Macintosh team during the 1980\u2019s, said that Steve Jobs had the ability to convince others to believe almost anything using a mix of his charm and charisma. This would create a distorted perception of tasks at hand for those that were subjects to his RDF, making them blind to the reality of the difficulties and challenges they would face.\r\n\r\nSo what does Steve Jobs\u2019 reality distortion field and vanity metrics have in common? If you haven\u2019t already, you\u2019re about to get the idea.\r\nLights, camera, vanity metrics: The negative effect on your business\r\nBesides his undeniable charisma, Steve Jobs\u2019 reality distortion field has often been described as his biggest flaw - a double-edged sword that made him a control freak and rigid perfectionist. Elizabeth Holmes, another early Apple computer employee said, &amp;quot;It was dangerous to get caught in Steve\u2019s distortion field, but it was what led him to actually be able to change reality.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nThat\u2019s exactly what vanity metrics will do. They will create a perception of your business that is\u00A0not\u00A0your reality.\r\n\r\nSay you\u2019re an e-commerce business and you\u2019ve reached one million signups. This number doesn\u2019t mean anything if you\u2019re not selling. Or if your average basket size is way below what it should be in order for you to be profitable. The numbers on the surface are never the ones that will tell you the truth about where your business is at.\r\nDon't look at the roses, dig through the dirt\r\nWe\u2019re all swimming in a sea of data, and it\u2019s hard not to get distracted by all the big, attractive numbers. The numbers that you\u2019ll email over to your stakeholders telling them how well you\u2019re doing.\r\n\r\nHowever, the novelty will wear off and reality will strike: no numbers - no matter how big - will take precedence over reality. So look at the numbers that will drive change, even if it\u2019s hard to face them. Because the companies that do will be in a much better place and in a much better reality.\r\nIt\u2019ll be worth it, we promise.\r\nWhat are your thoughts on growth metrics? Use the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions.\r\nRead next:\u00A0The metric of more: Why you shouldn\u2019t always focus on growth"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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