---
id: "concept-decision-rights"
type: "concept"
source_timestamps: ["¶2", "¶3"]
tags: ["governance", "frameworks", "accountability"]
related: ["claim-static-raci-ignored", "framework-decision-rights-mistakes", "entity-raci", "entity-rapid", "entity-dare", "quote-soccer-game", "quote-why-frameworks-fail"]
definition: "The formal assignment of authority and responsibility for making specific choices within an organization, often codified in frameworks like RACI, RAPID, or DARE."
sources: ["tail1"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-tail1"
originDay: 1
articleStem: "hbr-tail-106-decision-frameworks-fail"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/06/gg-why-decision-making-frameworks-fail"
sourceTitle: "Why Decision-Making Frameworks Fail"
---
# Decision Rights

Decision rights are the **formal assignment of authority and responsibility for making specific choices** within an organization, most often codified in frameworks like [[entity-raci-d1]], [[entity-rapid-d1]], or [[entity-dare-d1]]. The source compares them to *"the position plan for a children's soccer game"* — a theoretical ideal that quickly devolves into chaos in practice (see [[quote-soccer-game-d1]]).

The core problem, per Greer, Sytch, and Jordan, is **not the frameworks themselves** but that they are frequently *"misunderstood, misused, or disconnected from real behavior"* (see [[quote-why-frameworks-fail]]). When decision rights are treated as static documents rather than living, co-created agreements, they fail to guide actual organizational behavior: employees typically glance at the matrix once and promptly forget its contents (see [[claim-static-raci-ignored]]).

The remedy is to treat decision rights **dynamically** — define goals before roles, co-create the matrix with the team, resolve definitional disagreements up front, and rotate ownership to whoever is best positioned to make the call rather than defaulting to hierarchy. The full diagnosis of the failure modes is captured in [[framework-decision-rights-mistakes]], with practical countermeasures in [[action-define-goals-first]], [[action-cocreate-raci]], and [[action-delegate-decisions]].

> **Enrichment note:** External management literature (McKinsey and project-management guides) strongly supports the underlying idea that decision-rights frameworks are widely misapplied and that authority should sit where the best information resides — the deeper academic backdrop to this critique of rigid RACI-style charts.


## Related across articles
- [[concept-structured-empowerment]]
- [[concept-hq-satellite-dynamic]]
- [[contrarian-where-not-who]]