Lore

DACI (Decision-Role Matrix) as Product-Team Anti-Pattern

DACI (Driver, Approver, Contributor, Informed) is a decision-rights matrix some companies request so it's clear who decides what before work starts.

Chris Jones (SVPG) treats a company's desire for DACI as a symptom of a "project model" mindset rather than a true "product model" — see VC Seed-Funding Model vs. Corporate Project Model and Product Model (vs. Roadmap Model). His prescribed replacement isn't a different matrix but a starting posture: "we are doing this together," rather than pre-splitting who decides what vs. who decides how before the team has even engaged with the problem. This is the same critique applied to RACI (Role-Clarity Matrix) as Product-Team Anti-Pattern, and both sit under the broader Misconception: PM Owns the 'What', Engineering Just Executes the 'How'.