DECISION-MAKING SYSTEMS: RAPID, RACI, AND ONE-WAY VS TWO-WAY

RAPID, developed by Bain & Company, defines clear roles in the decision process using five key letters:

• R – Recommend: The person or group proposing a decision or solution.

• A – Agree: Stakeholders who must sign off or provide critical input.

• P – Perform: Those responsible for executing the final decision.

• I – Input: People who supply information, insights, or data.

• D – Decide: The individual or group who holds final decision authority.

Here’s how it works in practice. Imagine your marketing team is selecting a new CRM tool. The marketing manager might recommend, IT and finance might agree, the implementation team will perform, several departments will give input, and the CEO might decide.

The beauty of RAPID is that it separates roles cleanly. It avoids endless meetings and confusion about who gets the final say.

RACI focuses more on execution clarity once a decision is made. It answers “who does what” through four roles:

• R – Responsible: The doers who complete the task.

• A – Accountable: The person ultimately answerable for the outcome.

• C – Consulted: The people whose opinions are sought before action.

• I – Informed: Those who must be kept up to date on progress.

RACI is excellent for project planning and operations. For example, in launching an event:

• The event coordinator is Responsible for logistics.

• The project director is Accountable for success.

• Vendors and sponsors are Consulted.

• Management is Informed.

By clarifying these roles early, you prevent duplication, gaps, and misunderstandings that often lead to missed deadlines.

Not all decisions should be treated equally. Amazon popularized the concept of one-way vs two-way doors:

• One-way decisions are irreversible or costly to undo, like entering a new market or changing your pricing model. These require deep analysis, collaboration, and often top management involvement.

• Two-way decisions are reversible or low-impact, like testing a new landing page or trying a new marketing channel. These can be made quickly by smaller teams.

Distinguishing between the two helps organizations maintain agility without losing control. Many businesses fail because they treat every choice like a one-way door. As a result, they overanalyze simple things and delay innovation.

Adopting this mindset encourages speed where possible, and caution where necessary.

Used together, these frameworks form a complete decision-making system:

• RAPID clarifies the process of deciding.

• RACI clarifies the execution of decisions.

• One-way vs two-way clarifies the importance and reversibility of the decision.

Let’s see how this might work in a real business scenario. Suppose your company is deciding whether to introduce a new digital service line.

1. The marketing lead recommends (RAPID) the idea after market research.

2. The finance director and operations head agree (RAPID) based on capacity and budget.

3. The CEO decides (RAPID).

4. Once approved, the team applies RACI to manage launch tasks.

5. They identify it as a one-way decision since reversing it later would be costly.

This layered approach ensures structure, accountability, and speed without confusion.

If you use Zoho One or Zoho Projects, these frameworks can be directly mapped into your workflows.

• Zoho Projects allows you to assign RACI roles through task dependencies and custom fields.

• Zoho People can capture decision responsibility within job descriptions and approval workflows.

• Zoho WorkDrive keeps your RAPID documentation centralized, ensuring all stakeholders can review versions and decisions.

• Zoho Cliq or Zoho Connect can streamline communication for fast, two-way decisions.

By embedding RAPID and RACI into Zoho’s ecosystem, you transform decision-making from a vague discussion into a transparent, measurable process.