Goal cascade poster

A goal cascade carries a company goal down the plant level by level: the company sets a few goals for the year, each facility writes its version with its own target and owner, each team takes the share it can move, and each person's projects and standard work connect to the team's number. The cascade only works when each level replies to the level above rather than copying its words, and when every piece of work can name the goal it serves. This poster shows the four levels and the two rules that keep a cascade honest, and carries the one figure that explains why it is needed.

Download the poster

The PNG is free to download now. The print-ready vector PDFs open after a short form, once.

Download PNG (300 dpi)2550 x 3300 px, prints at 8.5 x 11 in · 406 KB · no form

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Goal cascade poster — 24 x 36 in18 x 24 inA2A3LetterA4PNG 300 dpi

The words on the poster

The goal cascade

Goals go down. Replies and results come back up. Every level writes its own version.

Company Three to five goals for the year, one KPI and one owner each.
Facility Replies: adopt it, write its own version, or say why it does not apply.
Department or team Its share of the plant target, on its board, judged every month.
Person The projects and standard work that move the team's number.

Only 28% of executives and middle managers executing strategy could list three of its priorities (MIT SMR, 2018).

Serves no goal? Put it under Other. Ask at the review.

Figure: Sull, Sull and Yoder, "No One Knows Your Strategy, Not Even Your Top Leaders", MIT Sloan Management Review, 2018 (124 organizations, 4,012 respondents).

On the floor

How to use it

Putting the Goal cascade poster to work

1
Put it where the year's goals are posted, next to the X-matrix or the plant scorecard.
2
Walk one goal down the four levels with the team leaders and write each level's version on the wall.
3
In the monthly review, read the project list against the bottom rule: what is under Other, and why?
4
Pair it with the free hoshin kanri X-matrix template and the SQCDP tier board.

Where the poster goes and how to teach with it, in the order to try them.

Which size to print

24 x 36 in or A2: a main wall or team board, read from a few metres away.
18 x 24 in or A3: a station or notice board. The A3 file also fits 11 x 17 in paper.
Letter or A4: a clipboard, binder or handout, on any office printer.

Every PDF is vector, so it stays sharp at full size. Nothing runs to the edge of the page, so no bleed is needed.