> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.aloop.icustomer.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.aloop.icustomer.ai/iharness/goals-kpis-targets.md).

# Goals, KPIs and targets

The chain iHarness optimizes: standing goals, readable KPIs, and computed, achievable targets.

Three objects, one chain: **goal → KPI → target**. The goal says what you care about, the KPI says what can be read, and the target says what you are committing to. Outcomes move targets, and targets move KPIs; the whole chain is computed, not asserted.

## Goals

A goal is one of six standing go-to-market ambitions. Goals never expire; you pick a primary focus, and the loop works it continuously.

* **Pipeline Growth**: more qualified pipeline via outbound, inbound, and partner motions.
* **Product-Led Growth**: self-serve adoption, activation, and in-product conversion.
* **Retention & Expansion**: reduce churn, lift NRR, and drive upsell in existing accounts.
* **Partner & Ecosystem**: channel and tech partnerships for scalable distribution.
* **Brand & Community**: category authority through thought leadership and community.
* **GTM Efficiency**: optimize CAC, sales velocity, and conversion across the funnel.

{% hint style="info" %}
You do not have to pick everything up front. Start with one target; the standing goal picture sharpens as the loop accumulates evidence.
{% endhint %}

## KPIs

A KPI is what the business can actually read. Measurability is definitional: if no connected source makes a number readable for your workspace, it is not a KPI there, and nothing will pretend otherwise. Each goal carries a primary KPI, the number it lives or dies on, plus supporting ones.

A few executive numbers are deliberately never targets: ratios like Rule of 40 or marketing as a percent of revenue are context for leadership, not work items anyone can be paced against.

## Targets

A target is not a number on a dashboard. It is an achievable work item, and achievability is computed, not hoped:

* **A readable KPI.** No readable number, no commitment.
* **At least one play that can move it.** A commitment with nothing behind it is a wish; a target always ships together with the plays serving it.
* **A guardrail.** Every rate target carries a volume floor, so it cannot be "won" by shrinking the denominator.
* **A leading indicator and a checkpoint.** What must move early if the plan is right, and when we look.
* **A window that fits your sales cycle.** A 30-day window on a 90-day cycle cannot resolve, so it is not allowed.
* **An owner and a deadline.** A target closes: met, missed, or abandoned. "At risk" is a computed flag along the way, not a status anyone sets.

{% hint style="info" %}
When the system cannot support a target honestly, it says so and names what would unlock it, rather than producing a confident number. Refusing to guess is the feature.
{% endhint %}

## How the chain moves

Outcomes land against decisions, decisions credit targets, and targets roll into their KPIs. When a target closes, what it proved becomes evidence for sizing the next one, which is how the bar moves as your business gets better. See [How plays become decisions](/iharness/plays-to-decisions.md) and [The compounding loop](/measurement-and-outcomes/compounding-loop.md).


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