Cost, Quality, Speed - Choose Three
The Iron Triangle.
Maybe not so iron after all. As a heuristic, it's more of a trap. If a someone is applying this frame to a situation it's a safe bet they're not working the overall system very well or they've worked themselves into a corner as the result of not being aware of the larger system. At the macro level, the iron triangle may offer some guidance, particularly when the situation has become desperate. Unfortunately, C-suite folks often apply the iron triangle as an either/or conumdrum regardless the circumstances. At the micro level, this is rarely the case. At the lower levels of the business, where the work actually gets done, there are ample opportunities to weigh options and choose where to optimize in a way that does a better job of working the balance between the three points of the iron triangle.
The Agile concept of minimum viable (or valuable) products are a good illustration. I can define a good-enough-for-now objective that satisfies a host of criteria around completing a successful sprint. In essence, it's a high quality goal to be achieved within a very short time frame for very low cost (relative to the larger project.) High quality goal, fast delivery, low cost.
The challenge for product owners and managers is to have a good handle on the bigger picture (i.e. the product backlog) and the skill to string together a series of high quality good-enough-for-now objectives for the team. From this, assuming they are working from a set of useful metrics, planners can begin to project a fairly reliable budget and delivery schedule that that keeps the points of the iron triangle in balance.
The challenge for executives is to 1) put the effort in to hiring good product owners and managers and then 2) do what needs to be done to enable their success. Often, that means getting out of the frame. The entire thing can be toppled if an unenlightened executive influencer decides to put their thumb on any of the three points of this scale.
Photo by Gustavo Torres on Unsplash