---
id: "framework-four-mistakes"
type: "framework"
source_timestamps: ["§ Mistake 1", "§ Mistake 2", "§ Mistake 3", "§ Mistake 4"]
tags: ["anti-patterns", "raci", "organizational-design"]
related: ["concept-goal-disentanglement", "concept-co-created-racis", "concept-role-institutionalization"]
steps: ["\\\"Confirming Roles Without Clarifying Goals: Assigning roles to overly broad objectives", "leading to turf wars.\\\"", "\\\"Assuming Everyone Will Adhere to the Boss's Spreadsheet: Dictating roles top-down rather than co-creating them", "resulting in zero buy-in.\\\"", "\\\"Misunderstanding Roles: Lacking concrete", "behavioral definitions for what Accountable", "Responsible", "Consulted", "and Informed actually look like in practice.\\\"", "Getting Stuck in the Same Roles: Defaulting to the formal org chart and hierarchy rather than tailoring roles to the specific decision context."]
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"
---
# The Four Mistakes of Decision Rights

A diagnostic framework naming the four primary reasons decision-rights tools fail in practice — moving from initial setup to ongoing execution. Each mistake has a corresponding repair concept and supporting claim.

1. **Confirming roles without clarifying goals** — assigning roles to overly broad objectives, leading to turf wars.
   - Repair → [[concept-goal-disentanglement]] · Evidence → [[claim-broad-goals-cause-conflict]]
2. **Assuming everyone will adhere to the boss's spreadsheet** — dictating roles top-down rather than co-creating them, resulting in zero buy-in.
   - Repair → [[concept-co-created-racis]] · Evidence → [[claim-dictated-spreadsheets-fail]] · Reframe → [[contrarian-raci-as-conversation]]
3. **Misunderstanding roles** — lacking concrete, behavioral definitions of what Accountable, Responsible, Consulted, and Informed look like in practice.
   - Repair → [[concept-role-institutionalization]] · Evidence → [[claim-latent-raci-disagreement]] · Do → [[action-draft-behavioral-guide]]
4. **Getting stuck in the same roles** — defaulting to the formal org chart rather than tailoring roles to the specific decision context.
   - Repair → [[action-embed-raci-cues]] / [[action-limit-senior-decisions]] · Evidence → [[claim-senior-leaders-over-accountable]] · Reframe → [[contrarian-four-decisions-a-year]]

The tools under discussion are [[entity-raci-d7]], [[entity-rapid-d7]], and [[entity-dare-d7]].


## Related across segments
- [[framework-decision-rights-mistakes]]
- [[concept-arci-framework]]
- [[framework-strategic-centers]]