Definition
The goal-setting starting point is instructive: good things double and bad things halve; the original states that it is only the starting point, not the goal itself.
In detail
The Double-Halve Rule is a starting heuristic for setting improvement goals, i.e., double the good, halve the bad. It addresses how to quickly set challenging goals, but it is explicitly a starting point, not the final goal. Unlike SMART goals, it emphasizes direction. The output is an initial target value that needs further validation and adjustment.
Example in practice
Before the improvement week, the team used the double-halving rule to set targets: halve changeover time and double output. However, after on-site measurement, they found that changeover time was already near the theoretical limit, so the target was adjusted to a 30% reduction. This rule helped the team focus quickly, but the final target was determined based on actual data.