A lagging-indicator is a human-made measurement construct that evaluates past performance by analyzing retrospective data — outcomes and events that have already occurred. It persists through recorded metrics, historical databases, and reporting frameworks that aggregate data over defined periods. Lagging-indicators answer what happened rather than what might happen, providing evidence-based signals about prior safety, quality, or operational performance. They are distinguished from leading-indicators by their temporal direction: the data they consume is post-hoc, making them reliable for assessing results but limited in predicting future outcomes.[formal: indicium-retrospectivum | substrate: mind | horizon: a life | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]
Accepted ontology entry
lagging-indicator
A lagging-indicator is a human-made measurement construct that evaluates past performance by analyzing retrospective data — outcomes and events that have already occurred. It persists through recorded metrics, historical databases, and rep…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A lagging-indicator is a human-made measurement construct — a retrospective metric that quantifies outcomes after they have occurred. It serves as a backward-looking signal in performance evaluation systems, recording what actually happened rather than what is expected to happen.
Names and aliases
- lagging-indicatoren · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmsai4gye004212cvwo9lkxizINSTANCE_OF →
A lagging-indicator IS a specific kind of indicator — a retrospective measurement that signals past performance. All lagging indicators are indicators; the qualified term specifies temporal direction (backward-looking). Nearest kind: indicator.
- cmrwww2cd01m6soacqurzmjj0SERVES →
A lagging-indicator serves the dashboard: the dashboard is built to display retrospective performance data, and lagging-indicators provide exactly that — historical metrics that inform decisions. Law 8d — the indicator is the servant, the dashboard is the master.
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Record identity
- Created
- Aug 1, 2026, 6:18 PM UTC
- Content hash
- 0ca117a59ab74578e6804da1fcaddc8b7745d00d382fae36777119937378542f