The RAPID Decision Making Model

RAPID Decision Making Model can help organizations make better decisions when multiple stakeholders are involved. Bain and Company’s this model clarifies decision accountability.

Each letter in the word RAPID signifies a group member’s role during the decision-making process. A loose acronym for Input, Recommend, Agree, Decide and Perform, RAPID® assigns owners to the five key roles in any decision.

According to Bain and Company, when roles are clearly delineated in this way, groups make the right choices swiftly and effectively.

It’s important to note that not every decision merits the level of effort and investment that goes into creating explicit RAPID roles. Nonetheless, RAPID is a useful framework for larger decisions.

Recommend – create the initial proposals and recommendations –

In essence, these are the person or persons that recommend a course of action or present a series of options. Consequently, they should back up their recommendations using facts, figures, and research.

You can think of this role as the starting point for the RAPID process. The decision-making process flows following a stakeholder-proposed recommendation.

Agree – must agree the proposals from the Recommend group –

These are the people who must agree with a recommendation before it can move forward. This group has the power to veto the decision if appropriate.

It is important to keep this group to as few people as possible or decision making can slow down.

If they veto the decision, then they must negotiate with the Recommend role and adjust any recommendations until they are satisfied. If they can’t find a satisfactory alternative, then they should escalate the issue to the Decide role.

Input – provides information and facts to the Recommend group –

The Input role provides the foundation for good decision making. This role provides the necessary facts, data and evidence for decision-making. Usually, the decision-maker consults this role on the inputs to deliberate a recommendation.

They will answer such questions as:

• What are the risks when executing the decision?
• How long will the recommendation take to implement?
• Are the key teams happy with the proposal as it stands?

The Recommend role doesn’t have to consider the information from the Input role. This rule basically acknowledges that consensus can impede the speed of decision-making.

Decide – the person who has the authority to make the decision –

A decision-maker must make a decision when all options are on the table. There should be a single person responsible for decision-making.

Usually, a senior leader within the organization fulfills this role. Once the decision-maker makes a decision, he / she usually delegates implementation to the Perform role and important activities should immediately commence.

Subsequently, the Perform role maintains the responsibility for work under execution.

Perform – execute the work following the decision –

This role corresponds to the people who will perform the decision. It is important that this role quickly acts on each decision.

Often, a decent decision executed quickly is better than a great decision executed slowly.