A DRI is a directly responsible individual: one named person who moves a piece of work forward and reports its status.
The Mochary Method applies this beyond action items. Metrics, goals, projects, meetings, and decisions need clear responsibility too. If everyone assumes someone else owns the work, reporting and follow-through can disappear.
Give the responsibility a name
Start with one project that matters. Write down its intended impact and the person responsible for moving it forward.
Then agree on when that person will report. The report should cover what they did, the current status, and what they plan to do next.
Keep the update in writing where the relevant team can find it. A spoken update can help a discussion, but it is a poor reference for someone who missed the meeting.
Separate responsibility from decision authority
A DRI does not necessarily have authority to make every decision connected to the work.
Matt uses recruiting as an example. A recruiter can be responsible for finding candidates and helping close the selected person. The hiring manager still decides whom to offer the job to.
Make the equivalent distinction on your project. Who moves it forward? Who decides the overall direction? Who can resolve a resource conflict?
Give the DRI a way to get unblocked
Someone can own the reporting without controlling every resource. If they cannot resolve a blocker themselves, they need a clear route to the manager who can help.
For example, a project lead might need design time from another team. Their job is to make the dependency visible and seek a decision, not silently accept an impossible deadline. This is an illustrative application of the principle.
Review whether the work still belongs on the list
Assigning an owner is only part of the system. Review projects regularly and stop the ones that no longer deserve resources.
A named owner should not make a low-priority project live forever. Define its intended impact, keep reporting useful, and decide deliberately whether it should continue.
Try this today: find a project that has no clear owner. Name one, clarify their authority, and agree on the next update.