Coaching practices for The Raci Matrix After a Loss
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For The Raci Matrix After a Loss, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- We sorted out who owned what at kickoff, but the project has shifted and two people have left since then, and now decisions are getting made by folks who aren’t even in those roles anymore
- We keep re-arguing the same decision we already settled weeks ago because no one wrote down what we chose or why
- Everything still funnels through me because I own the outcome, so I can’t hand off the actual doing without feeling like I’ve let it go entirely
- This one loss feels like the end of the world when I stare right at it, and I keep checking it obsessively, which only makes it worse
- A deadline just blew past and when I asked what happened, everyone pointed at someone else
Practices that may help
- Review the RACI when scope or team changes
A RACI built at kickoff and never updated is out of date the moment the first change happens.
The RACI Matrix, Made Practical - The RACI Matrix, Made Practical
A RACI matrix assigns one of four roles — Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed — to every person for every key decision or task in a project. Its main value is preventing the two most common team failures: work falling through the cracks because no one owns it, and decisions stalling because too many people feel they must approve them. - Pair the RACI with a decision log
Knowing who decides is only half the system — recording what was decided closes the accountability loop.
The RACI Matrix, Made Practical - Separate the doer (R) from the owner (A)
The person who does the work is often not the person who owns the outcome — make this explicit.
The RACI Matrix, Made Practical - Zoom out from the single loss to the aggregate
A loss looks catastrophic in isolation and trivial across the whole portfolio of your life.
Loss Aversion, Made Practical - Assign exactly one Accountable per decision
Every decision or deliverable must have exactly one A — not zero, not two.
The RACI Matrix, Made Practical - Inform stakeholders before they ask, not after they complain
I’s are one-way — they receive information; the cost of surprising them is always higher than the cost of telling them.
The RACI Matrix, Made Practical - Limit Consulted to people whose input genuinely changes the decision
Every C is a two-way conversation that costs time; over-consulting is as dangerous as under-consulting.
The RACI Matrix, Made Practical - Apply the AAR to successes, not only setbacks
Reviewing what actually caused a win produces replicable insight; reviewing only failures produces only loss-avoidance.
After-Action Review: The US Army’s Tool for Continuous Learning - Run brief after-action reviews without blame
After any significant outcome — success or failure — ask four questions together as a team.
Psychological Safety in Teams
Related concerns
- Decision Log Raci
Knowing who decides is only half the system — recording what was decided closes the accountability loop.
Pair the RACI with a decision log
- How To Use Raci
A RACI matrix assigns one of four roles — Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed — to every person for every key decision or task in a project. Its main value is preventing the two most common team failures: work falling through the cracks because no one owns it, and decisions stalling because too many people feel they must approve them.
- Raci Consulted Too Many
Every C is a two-way conversation that costs time; over-consulting is as dangerous as under-consulting.
Limit Consulted to people whose input genuinely changes the decision
- Raci Informed Stakeholders
I’s are one-way — they receive information; the cost of surprising them is always higher than the cost of telling them.
Inform stakeholders before they ask, not after they complain
- Raci R Vs A
The person who does the work is often not the person who owns the outcome — make this explicit.
Separate the doer (R) from the owner (A)
- Responsible Accountable Consulted Informed
A RACI matrix assigns one of four roles — Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed — to every person for every key decision or task in a project. Its main value is preventing the two most common team failures: work falling through the cracks because no one owns it, and decisions stalling because too many people feel they must approve them.
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