What is Hoshin Kanri?

Hoshin Kanri (方策管理), also known as "policy deployment" or "Strategy Deployment," is a Lean that ensures that an organization's strategic goals are translated into concrete actions at all levels. It is a powerful system that encourages focus, alignment and communication so that everyone in the organization is working on the same priorities.

The goal of Hoshin Kanri is to create a "flywheel" for improvement: instead of launching many separate initiatives at once, Hoshin Kanri ensures that the entire organization focuses on a limited number of carefully chosen breakthrough objectives.

How does the Hoshin Kanri method work in practice?

Hoshin Kanri uses a structured process to translate strategy into operations:

1. Setting Strategic Direction: Senior management identifies key breakthrough goals for the next 3 to 5 years.
2. 'Catchball' process: goals are communicated from top to bottom, and simultaneously from bottom to top. This interactive process, called a "catchball," allows workplace teams to provide feedback and feel ownership of the goals. This results in a supported plan that is widely accepted.
3. Implementation and follow-up: The strategy is translated into annual plans, measurable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and concrete actions. This is often captured in a visual overview, such as an X-matrix, that shows the relationship between the various goals and actions.
4. Periodic review: Regular checks ensure that progress on goals is monitored and adjustments can be made if necessary.

Hoshin Kanri is the key to preventing a strategy from remaining a fancy document in the desk drawer. It ensures a clear focus and a concerted effort by the entire organization to achieve measurable and sustainable results.

Ready to implement Hoshin Kanri in your organization? Sign up for our Strategy Deployment masterclass, based on the book *Managing on Purpose* by Mark Reich (former Toyota executive). This masterclass was developed in collaboration with Mark Reich and other colleagues at the Lean Institute and has since been successfully implemented for numerous clients.