DACI Decision Rights Framework
A role-assignment model that clarifies who Drives, Approves, Contributes, and is Informed for any significant product decision.
Context
Slow product organizations are rarely slow because of execution capacity. They are slow because decision rights are unclear, which means decisions are escalated unnecessarily, revisited after apparent closure, or made by the wrong people at the wrong level.
Model Explanation
D — Driver The single person responsible for moving the decision to closure. Not necessarily the highest-ranking person in the room. The Driver gathers input, manages the process, and calls the decision.
A — Approver The person (or small group) who must sign off before the decision is final. Approvers have veto power. If there is more than one Approver, decisions slow dramatically — treat multiple approvers as an organizational design smell.
C — Contributors People whose expertise is needed to make a good decision. Contributors provide input but do not approve. Engineers, designers, finance, legal, customer success — as appropriate.
I — Informed People who need to know the decision was made and what it was. Informing people is not asking for approval. Confusing these two roles is one of the most common sources of organizational friction.
Application
Use DACI when:
- Decisions are being revisited after closure
- Meetings end without clear decisions
- PMs feel blocked waiting for approvals they do not know how to escalate
Define DACI roles at the start of any significant product initiative, not after confusion has already occurred.
Decision Impact
Organizations with explicit decision rights make decisions faster, revisit them less, and build organizational trust more quickly. DACI is most valuable in cross-functional environments where authority lines are ambiguous.