The world has Universal Truths, Industries have their rules of thumb, Society has its norms…our business certainly has its accepted principles and doctrines. Design takes time, building technical applications takes care and diligence, bringing them together is a challenge we tackle on a daily basis, often with very tight timelines.
The Project Management Triangle is a model we can easily extend to our business when it comes to delivering on design and technical work. The Scope, Cost and Schedule dimensions are nicely transformed to the simpler concepts of Fast, Good and Cheap when working specifically on design work.
Like a three way tug-of-war, these dimenions are fighting each other and result essentially in a client’s choice of two dimensions at the expense of the third.
Next time you’re thinking about the quality you’d like, the speed at which you’d like it, and how much you have to pay for it all, think 2 out of 3 is what I can have.
If you want it Fast, and Good, it can’t be Cheap.
If you want it Fast, and Cheap, it can’t be Good. (OK…caveat here, “Good” can happen fast, lightning can strike, but counting on it with little time and money isn’t always a winning bargain.)
If you want it Good, and Cheap, it can’t be Fast.
In our business, it’s important that we keep our reputations as Miracle Workers intact…remember the challenges we face next time we talk about your new challenge.
