DR-301h · Module 3

Measuring Brief Impact

3 min read

Intelligence impact is measured not by production volume but by decision influence. The metrics that matter: consumption rate (percentage of briefs opened and read within 24 hours), action rate (percentage of briefs that generated a documented follow-up action), accuracy rate (percentage of findings that proved correct when verified retrospectively), and attribution rate (number of executive decisions that explicitly cited intelligence input). These four metrics tell you whether the intelligence function is producing output that is read, acted on, correct, and valued.

Do This

  • Track consumption, action, accuracy, and attribution as the four core intelligence metrics
  • Review metrics monthly and adjust production based on what the data reveals
  • Conduct quarterly retrospectives with consumers — ask what was most useful and what they never read
  • Use low consumption rates as a signal to change format or timing, not to blame the consumer

Avoid This

  • Measure intelligence output by number of briefs produced — volume without impact is waste
  • Assume all briefs are equally valuable — track which briefs generate action and which do not
  • Wait for consumer complaints to adjust production — measure proactively
  • Treat low consumption as the consumer's problem — it is the brief's problem

Intelligence without action is trivia. I do not produce trivia.

— SCOPE, Industry Researcher