Set climbs for the next 90 days.

A climb is a result that has to be finished this quarter.

Climbs are the company’s priorities for the next 90 days. Each climb names one result that someone can finish, such as “Sign 12 new cafés in Leeds” or “Hire a head of coffee”.

Climbs are set at three levels.

• Company climbs are the most important results for the whole company. The leadership team sets them.
• Team climbs belong to one team, such as Wholesale or Cafés. The team sets them together, and every team climb needs a team.
• Individual climbs belong to one person. Each one supports a team or company climb, and the person sets it with their manager.

Every climb, at every level, has three things.

• One owner. The owner checks in on the climb each week and decides whether it’s on track. Other people can help, and their part of the work can be a climb of their own.
• A done when. This is one line that says what will be true when the climb is finished. “Twelve Leeds cafés have signed a trade agreement and placed a first order” can be checked. “Leeds is going well” can’t.
• A due date. A climb is due by the end of a month in the quarter, or by the end of the quarter. Choose a month when other work depends on the climb finishing early.

Keep to a few climbs at each level.

Each climb needs time from its owner every week and a few minutes in the huddle. When there are too many, most of them get too little of that time, and fewer are finished.

For the company, three to seven climbs is a sensible guide. Headwater asks each person to set one to three climbs.

Set climbs from the top down. Company climbs come first, then each team’s, then each person’s, because a climb can only support a climb that has already been confirmed.

Good ideas that don’t make the list can wait. Put them on the team’s long-term issues list, which is reviewed at the next planning session.

Break each climb into dated milestones.

Milestones are the steps that finish a climb. Each one has a title and a date. When the last milestone is ticked, the done when line should be true.

Milestones have no owner. They belong to the climb, and the climb’s owner ticks them off. If part of the work belongs to someone else, it becomes a climb of theirs that supports this one.

Date each milestone for when that step should be finished, and spread the dates across the quarter. Four to eight milestones is enough for most climbs.

Headwater counts progress, and the owner calls the status.

A climb’s progress is the share of its milestones that are ticked. It counts the climb’s own milestones and the milestones on every climb that supports it. A climb with no milestones shows a state instead, which is not started, in progress, or done.

On track and off track are the owner’s judgement, set each week in their check-in. A climb can be on track at 20% early in the quarter, or off track at 80% if the last step is stuck.

Behind pace

Headwater compares progress with the time gone. A climb is behind pace when its progress is more than 25 points behind the time gone from the start of the quarter to the end of the month it’s due. For a climb due in November, about half of that time has gone by the end of October.

Behind pace appears next to the status and doesn’t change it. The owner decides what it means.

Done

The owner marks a climb done once every milestone is ticked or removed. Until then, done is locked.

Link each climb to the climb it supports.

An individual climb supports a team or company climb, and a team climb can support a company climb. The link shows why each climb matters, and it adds the climb’s milestones to the progress of every climb above it.

A climb can also link to an initiative, the longer project it moves forward. An initiative’s progress counts the milestones on all of its climbs.

In the example below, Maya’s climb counts its own five milestones and the seven on Joe’s and Ellie’s climbs. Sam’s company climb counts all 18.

Mistakes to avoid.

• Writing tasks as climbs“Send the new price list” takes an afternoon. It’s a milestone on a climb such as “Build the trade price list”.
• Giving a climb two ownersWhen two people share a climb, each can assume the other is chasing it. Give it one owner, and make the other person’s part a climb that supports it.
• A done when that repeats the title“The decaf subscription has launched” doesn’t say what launched means. Say what will be true, such as “Decaf is on sale and 150 people have subscribed”.
• Dating every milestone at the endIf every milestone is due in the last two weeks, the climb shows as behind pace for most of the quarter. Date each step for when it should be finished.
• Setting too many climbsTwelve company climbs leave little time for each one. Keep the rest for another quarter as long-term issues.
• Leaving an off-track climb aloneWhen a climb goes off track, raise an issue for whatever is in the way, so the team can work on it in the huddle.

Check each climb before you confirm.

Climbs are locked when the planning session is confirmed. Go through this list first.

• Each climb names one result that can be finished this quarter.
• Each climb has one owner.
• Each done when line could be checked by someone else.
• Each climb is due by a month or by the end of the quarter.
• Each milestone has a title and a date, and the dates are spread across the quarter.
• Each team climb belongs to a team, and each individual climb supports a climb above it.
• The company has three to seven climbs, and each person has one to three.
• Climbs that move an initiative forward are linked to it.