In the late 1990s, Rover Group used Hoshin Kanri’s catchball to deploy a quality strategy across engineering, manufacturing and supplier networks. The method was simple but powerful. Executives set clear, measurable outcomes, then tossed them to middle managers who tested feasibility, surfaced constraints and threw back refined plans. The process clarified ownership, sequencing and capacity, which meant the strategy did not buckle under real-world pressures. It is a documented case that still stands as a practical example of how clear direction, paired with middle-manager translation, delivers execution at scale. (1)

That story is not nostalgia. It is a reminder that the best results happen in the middle when the top bun is firm and fresh.

The Burger of Clarity

Think of your organisation as a burger. The top bun is C-suite direction. It is a could look like a short list of enterprise outcomes for the next 6 to 12 months, each expressed as measurable Key Results. When executives are explicit and consistent, middle managers become the engine of transformation rather than its bottleneck.

The middle is where value is created. Managers translate outcomes into plans, coach people and solve problems where reality bites; done well, this correlates strongly with organisational health and performance.

The bottom bun is operating reality. Customers, risk, compliance, finance and capacity keep ambition grounded so commitments are deliverable and safe.

Why does this model matter? Because role clarity is not a flavour-of-the-month idea. Research shows perceived role clarity boosts intrinsic motivation and innovative work behaviour, which are essential for better performance. (2)

A recent peer-reviewed study also finds that role clarity and motivation predict job performance and organisational effectiveness, reinforcing the case for crystal-clear direction from the top that managers can translate locally. (3)

What the top bun must provide

The C-suite’s job is not to produce a long initiative list. It is to define a small set of outcomes that frames every other choice. This could be a published one-page direction with 3 to 5 Objectives and quantified Key Results. Keep the language plain. If a new starter cannot explain a Key Result, rewrite it.

Connect direction with reality: catchball

Before you lock plans, pressure test them with the people who must deliver them. Catchball is a structured dialogue where leaders throw objectives to managers who test feasibility, identify interdependencies and throw back a sharper plan. It aligns ambition with capacity and builds genuine buy-in because the plan changes in response to frontline insight (4).

The Rover Group example shows how catchball clarifies sequencing and ownership so quality and timing survive contact with real operations (1).

If you prefer a concise primer, this overview explains catchball as bidirectional strategy alignment that reduces rework and speeds decision making across levels (5).

A 90-day playbook you can start this quarter

Weeks 1 to 2: Publish the one-page direction. Agree Objectives and Key Results, then share the draft and invite tight feedback windows. Ensure team-level OKRs, not individual ones, to emphasise cross-functional delivery.

Weeks 3 to 4: Run catchball. Hold short cycles with managers to map interdependencies, highlight risks and decide what must stop to make room. This reduces escalations later because decision rights are explicit upfront.

Weeks 5 to 6: Cascade with care. Translate company Key Results into team Key Results only where there is clear ownership and line of sight. Use proven cascading patterns and avoid creating a tangle of metrics that compete with one another.

Weeks 7 to 12: Monthly bun checks [pun intended]. Run a 30-minute ritual:

• Stop activities that do not advance a Key Result
• Start experiments or collaborations that unblock a Key Result
• Continue routines that help and should be protected. Make decisions visible within 48 hours and remove blockers so momentum stays high. This keeps the bun and filling (c-suite and mid-level leaders) aligned as conditions change, which is exactly where transformation accelerates when managers are enabled to lead, coach and coordinate.

The six ingredients and the secret sauce

Use a shared language to reinforce leadership behaviours and keep culture aligned with outcomes:

These behaviours are consistent with a wider shift that asks managers to coach more and command less, which research highlights as a winning pattern in complex work (6).

Final bite

If you remember one thing, make it this: the best is in the middle, but only when the top bun holds the whole burger together. Publish a one-page direction, practise catchball to respect reality, and commit to monthly bun checks. Your customers will feel the difference, your risks are managed in daylight, and your performance becomes reliably delicious.

By Sally Foley-Lewis

Keywords: Careers, Coaching, Leadership

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