21 Metrics for Managing Innovation: Lessons From Growth Leaders ^Top versus what is needed, or that the wrong behaviors won’t inadvertently be encouraged. Indeed, the case could be made that the problems may be get- ting worse and dissatisfaction is increasing. There are numerous pitfalls to be avoided if the innovation dashboard is to be a help rather than a hindrance to decision-makers.  Pitfalls in Measuring Innovation D isquiet and unease with the side effects and unintended consequences of a reliance on metrics is widespread. A recent book with the suggestive title The Tyranny of Metrics19 argues that metrics as a management tool may shift power away from front line personnel to distant managers who set targets and manage data, potentially direct behavior towards the measurable, and induce gaming and misplaced activity to meet targets, amongst other risks. These problems are exacerbated by advances in digital technologies so managers have to wade through a far larger volume of data—much of it noisy and irrelevant—to uncover relevant signals. As Nate Silver20 has noted, “Information is no longer a scarce commodity … but relatively little of it is useful, because useless data distracts us from the truth.” Innovation metrics are highly susceptible to all these problems. There are three pitfalls, in particular, that reduce their usefulness. The first is getting misleading signals from the innovation dashboard, due to having too many metrics that emphasize results over insights. The second is fostering a bias toward incremental or “small i” incremental innovation. The final pitfall is to inadvertently encourage the wrong behavior. 19 Jerry Z. Muller, Tyranny of Metrics, Princeton N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2018. 20 Nate Silver, The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail – But Some Don’t, New York: Pen- guin Press, 2012.