Free Hoshin Kanri X-Matrix template (Excel) — with instructions

Three sheets, matching how the method is actually run:

• X-Matrix — the four quadrants (3-5 year objectives North, annual objectives East, initiatives South, KPIs West) with correlation zones in the corners: mark ● strong, ○ medium, △ weak.
• KPI bowler — one row per KPI with monthly target and actual lines: the classic hoshin tracking chart for the West quadrant.
• Action plan — initiatives from the South quadrant with owner, due date and status, so reviews have something concrete to inspect.

Resist filling it top-left to bottom-right. The method has an order: North first (the 3-5 breakthrough objectives — three to five, not ten), then East (what must be true this year), then South (the initiatives that will make it true), then West (how you will measure it). Correlations last — and honestly: a weak mark is information, a courtesy mark is noise.

Then the test most spreadsheet matrices fail: trace every North element down to at least one KPI through the correlation marks. A vision element with no complete chain is not deployed — it is decoration. This audit is exactly what our completeness score automates.

The template will carry you through the planning workshop. What it cannot do: manage the review cadences, keep versions from forking, audit the correlations continuously, or let an AI agent update initiative statuses from Linear or Jira every week. We wrote an honest breakdown of where the spreadsheet breaks — the short version is: it breaks at the second quarterly review.

The app's free tier exists for exactly that transition: rebuild the matrix in under an hour, keep working the same method, and gain the score, the cadences and the agent access.

Plenty of X-Matrix templates exist — from Vertex42, QI Macros, consultancies and tool vendors. Most are fine; the layout is not the hard part. What differs is what happens after the download: our position is that the matrix should end up somewhere agents can keep it alive, which is why the template and the app open the same door.