Catchball is the practice of passing a goal back and forth between levels of an organization, like a ball, until both sides agree on the target and the plan to reach it. It is central to Hoshin Kanri and replaces top-down goal-setting with a negotiation, so the people accountable for delivery help shape what they commit to.
The mechanic is simple: leadership proposes a direction, teams respond with what is achievable and what it would take, leadership adjusts, and the loop repeats until there is genuine agreement. The output is a goal both sides own, not one imposed and quietly resented.
Catchball is slower than a decree, and that is the point. The time spent negotiating up front is recovered many times over in execution, because teams defend goals they helped set far harder than goals handed to them.
Leadership proposes a 30% efficiency gain; the plant team counters that 18% is realistic without new equipment and 30% needs capital. They settle on 22% plus a capital request.
Vindaris runs OKRs, KPIs, EOS, OGSM, SMART goals, the Balanced Scorecard, and Hoshin Kanri in one place, each goal linked to the traceable work moving it. Start free, no credit card.
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