For each KPI on a Bowling Chart, there are two rows: the actual value and the target value. Typically, there are three colors used on such a chart:
There are sometimes variations, where “light green” means the organization is on track to meet the objective by the end of the year and “dark green” means they have already achieved that target.
Bowling Charts are an easy way of checking in on how often your goals were met or missed. If you’re looking for that basic information, this may be the perfect tool for you. But if you’re interested in looking at trends, you may need to add another type of analysis to your improvement arsenal.
As our VP of Improvement & Innovation Services, Mark Graban, put it in our webinar on improvement metrics, even though a Bowling Chart may answer the question of, “Are we hitting our goal or not?” it doesn’t answer the bigger question of “Are we improving?” A bowling chart is “visual” in the sense that we see colors (unless a manager is color blind!), but run charts or process control charts help illustrate trends in a way that Mark argues makes it easier for us to continuously improve - not just hit a target (and then stop because it's green).
It's ironic that "red" is usually the color for "Stop" when we're driving in traffic... but that's a different story.
One of the biggest problems with Bowling Charts is that it can be hard to draw specific conclusions from them.
Why? It can be difficult for people to draw anything other than the most simple conclusions from a table of numbers - whether they’re looking at data over time or comparing this year to last year. We are, after all, very visual creatures, and big batches of raw numbers like this make it hard to spot trends.
And trends matter! They can tell you if your organization is improving, if it’s getting worse, if it’s stable, so charts that are more visual, such as run charts, are much better at conveying that information quickly and efficiently.
The best approach is using bowling charts and run charts together -- bowling charts to check whether you're hitting targets, and run charts to see whether you're actually improving over time. KaiNexus makes this easy by displaying both views against the same underlying data, so leaders don't have to choose between "did we hit the goal?" and "are we getting better?"
KaiNexus supports bowling charts alongside run charts, control charts, and other performance tracking tools -- all connected to the improvement work driving the metrics. That means when a KPI turns red, leaders can drill directly into the improvement projects aimed at moving it back to green. See the step-by-step setup instructions on our support site, or see KaiNexus in action →
Bowling charts are a useful starting point for KPI tracking. They become more powerful when paired with trend analysis and connected to the improvement work behind the numbers.
A bowling chart is a visual management tool that compares actual KPI results to targets over time, typically across 12 months. Each metric is color-coded -- green for meeting or exceeding the target, red for missing it, and sometimes yellow for partial achievement. The format resembles a bowling scorecard, which is where the name comes from.
A bowling chart shows whether you hit your target in each period. A run chart plots data points over time to reveal trends, shifts, and patterns. Bowling charts answer "did we meet the goal?" Run charts answer "are we improving?" The most effective organizations use both together.