---
id: "claim-dictated-spreadsheets-fail"
type: "claim"
source_timestamps: ["§ Mistake 2"]
tags: ["compliance", "tool-adoption"]
related: ["concept-co-created-racis", "contrarian-raci-as-conversation"]
confidence: "high"
testable: true
speakers: ["Lindy Greer", "Jennifer Jordan", "Maxim Sytch"]
sources: ["governance"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-governance"
originDay: 7
articleStem: "hbr-sig-48-decision-rights"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/07/what-companies-get-wrong-about-decision-rights"
sourceTitle: "What Companies Get Wrong About Decision Rights"
---
# Top-Down RACI Spreadsheets Are Ignored

Treating decision rights as a **static list created by a single senior leader and captured in a spreadsheet** is a costly mistake. Without up-front discussion and co-creation, teams lack shared buy-in and simply ignore the documented roles, so collaboration falters. The authors cite global companies where **thousands of rows** of RACI assignments were looked at once and never again.

The fix is [[concept-co-created-racis]]; the mindset shift is [[contrarian-raci-as-conversation]]; the manager's memorable indictment is [[quote-soccer-game-d7]].

**Confidence: high · testable.** *Enrichment:* expert consensus (CIO, Project-Management.com, Atlassian, University of Phoenix) says RACI should be developed and reviewed *collaboratively*; purely top-down assignment is treated as a common mistake. The stronger 'looked at once and never again' pattern is experiential/anecdotal but consistent with change-management research linking low participation to low adoption.