The ‘directly responsible individual’ – or DRI – explained
As you take on more responsibility in your career, you'll likely find yourself leading projects with bigger scopes and more moving parts. How can you ensure these initiatives stay on track and deliver real results? One powerful tool is the concept of the Directly Responsible Individual, or DRI.
What exactly is a DRI - or directly responsible individual?
Put simply, the ‘directly responsible individual’ is the one person who is ultimately accountable for a project's success or failure. They're the go-to contact for status updates, taking decisions, and overcoming blockers. It might be a group effort, but it’s down to them to get the team moving. And if progress gets ‘stuck’, they need to get creative and unstick it.
Much like the humble SMART goal, it’s a straightforward concept that makes work ‘more specific’ (in this case, the ‘who’ rather than the ‘what’) and hence more likely to happen.
The notion first gained prominence in the tech world. It's often associated with Apple, where Steve Jobs reportedly used the term often.
At Apple there is never any confusion as to who is responsible for what. Internal Applespeak even has a name for it, the “DRI,” or directly responsible individual. Often the DRI’s name will appear on an agenda for a meeting, so everybody knows who is responsible. “Any effective meeting at Apple will have an action list,” says a former employee. “Next to each action item will be the DRI.”
A common phrase heard around Apple when someone is trying to learn the right contact on a project: “Who’s the DRI on that?” – Forbes
When something needs to get done, the DRI makes sure it happens. And if it doesn’t? Well, they’re the one who’ll need a convincing answer. Needless to say, you’ve now got a highly motivated person, empowered to push things forward.
Why is a directly responsible individual useful?
Several reasons!
First, it provides clear accountability, even in a complex situation. With a DRI in place, there's no confusion about who owns the initiative. Needless to say, this person will understand it’s their job to push things forward.
This is especially valuable for cross-functional projects that span multiple teams – perhaps solving a novel or ambiguous problem that hasn’t found a clear owner yet. You know how those efforts can sometimes feel rudderless, with no one at the helm? Appointing a DRI cuts through the awkwardness. Even if they don't directly manage the contributors, the DRI is still the one driving the project.
Second, it empowers that person with authority to lead effectively and make judgment calls. Nobody will roll their eyes and ask “Why is Dave so obsessed with X?” or “Who died and made and Isa the queen of doing Y?” Instead, their clear status as DRI means they don’t need to feel embarrassed about convening meetings, chasing-up on inputs or brokering compromises between different parties.
Third, it also simplifies the work for other stakeholders. Relevant parties can simply ‘do their bit’ and rely on the DRI to integrate their contribution – not everybody needs to maintain 100% situational awareness of what’s happening, or be constantly negotiating between themselves.
Fourth, it overcomes social intertia. Having a DRI can also address some tricky psychological dynamics that often derail group efforts. Social loafing, for instance - the tendency for individuals to put in less effort when they're working in a team. With a DRI, there's no hiding in the crowd.
Or how about diffusion of responsibility? That's the "I thought you were going to handle it!" syndrome. Again, a DRI cuts through the finger-pointing and keeps things on track.
Finally, it can help you ‘manage the managing.’ If you’re starting to get overwhelmed managing a lot of projects in detail, you can start to delegate the management and oversight of various elements to DRIs.
That way, when you need to check up on progress with Project Z, you can ask one person, rather than each individual contributor.
Puttng the ‘directly responsible individual’ concept into practice
If there’s something that needs to happen, and requires input from a wide range of people, but nothing seems to be happening, consider whether anybody is actually responsible for it happening. If nobody is liable to get praise for the accomplishment (or incur consequences or the failure) it’s liable to get neglected.
If not, put someone in charge of getting it done, make sure everyone else understands the DRI has been so empowered, and reward them for their progress. This can be a simple and powerful way to delegate, to motivate someone to take control, and give people some early experience of a ‘management responsibility’ in their career progression – and of course, to get the work done.
The DRI for any given piece of work doesn't have to be the most senior person, or even a subject matter expert. It's more about trust, diligence, and keeping the project's interests front and center. You'll also want to consider how much authority the DRI has to make decisions solo vs. including others.
And if you're early in your career, don't be afraid to raise your hand and take on a DRI opportunity, with support from above. The experience of driving a project from vision to reality can be extremely valuable - for your company, and for your own growth. (You can often spot these opportunities in meetings when an idea is repeatedly seen as ‘worth perusing’ or ‘something we definitely need to take a look at’ but is stuck in the doldrums.)
More useful ideas for managers:
Assigning tasks to directly responsible individuals
See where you sit on the Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid
The push-pull continuum of coaching your team members
Use the GROW model to shape simple coaching conversations
101 coaching conversations to empower your people
Deciding how to delegate with the Tannenbaum-Schmidt continuum
Using a skill/will matrix to adjust your management style