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.

You do not have to pick everything up front. Start with one target; the standing goal picture sharpens as the loop accumulates evidence.

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.

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.

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 and The compounding loop.