Everyone wants work done faster, cheaper and better. And, only (up to) 2 of these 3 attributes can be achieved in reality.Either you can get it faster and cheaper, but the work will lack quality. You can get it done faster and better, but it will be expensive. Or You can it cheaper and better, but it will take time. Sometimes, in an attempt to chase all the 3 desirable attributes, companies lose on 2 fronts, and occasionally it can be a disaster where you never get any product.
Organizations choose to live in denial that this triple crown can be achieved, and sustained, and continue to pursue this goal. The day any company realizes the facts, and accepts it as a truth, it will make a lot of money. They will stop spending a lot of money to achieve this elusive trio, instead choose their top 2 attributes, compromise on the 3rd one, plan accordingly, and be successful.
A lot of people today are making money (writing books, become management gurus, conduct seminars) or even make a living riding on this elusive chase. They sell nonsense, and organizations buy it - year after year, decade after decade.
I am reading a book on this today, and within a few pages, I have to admit that the book is full of nonsense.
Anyone who says that this triple whammy can be achieved is telling that there can be a electric car which on one charge can drive 1000 miles, give 1000 bhp of raw power and is also very affordable. And yes, this car can go up to 300K+ miles.
Give me this book to read when such a car hits the market.
3 comments:
I completely identify with these facts as we are in one such project right now. The timeline is too aggressive which is affecting the quality of the product and the cost has escalated to 3 times of what was originally estimated. But we are still really proud because no other comapany has attempted to implement the ERP in such a short notice. Is this a good thing. I dont know. Better ask the so called "experts".
Very nicely said Nikhil. I dont see anything wrong in setting the bar high and for Management to set a vision for continuous improvement on all three fronts. But goals loose their potent force without quantitative benchmarks, which as your article suggests, should NOT shoot for the moon and land up with dirt.
@Sharath and @Mikunj -- If we can understand this, I cant understand why the decision makers dont get it. But may be they do and yet have to do it, because sitting still is no longer an option.
Sometimes, its better to fail by attempting to succeed instead of not succeeding by not attempting at all.
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