North Star
A guiding top-level goal that aligns the team’s work (often revenue in cross-functional growth). In this content, it’s expressed as a “Strategic Goal” and its sub-goals.
Definition
A guiding top-level goal that aligns the team’s work (often revenue in cross-functional growth). In this content, it’s expressed as a “Strategic Goal” and its sub-goals.
More context
A north star is the single guiding objective that aligns experiments and tasks. It anchors prioritization so that “growth work” stays connected to meaningful outcomes rather than scattered activities.
Why it matters
A clear north star reduces wasted effort and makes trade-offs explicit.
How to use it
Express the north star as a Strategic Goal, break it into sub-goals with owners, and ensure experiments connect to those goals via OKRs/KPIs.
Common pitfalls
Picking a north star that can’t be influenced by the team, or letting teams run unrelated experiments without connection to goals.
Related terms
- Strategic Goal — A top-level goal that serves as the “north star” for experiments and tasks. Sub-goals break it into actionable areas.
- OKR (Objectives and Key Results) — A goal-setting method that connects an Objective (what you want) to Key Results (how you measure progress). Used to steer experiments toward meaningful outcomes.
- Owner — The accountable person for a metric, area, task, or experiment. Clear ownership prevents work from stalling.
- KPI (Key Performance Indicator) — A measurable number used to guide decisions and evaluate progress. The first step in the process is choosing a KPI that can be measured periodically.