There ain´t no such thing as a “good, pretty, fast & cheap” project
The core argument of this article is so simple that it has already been stated in the title. It´s a straightforward idea: to my humble criterion, a self-evident truth. But… alas, reality is complex and we humans are masters of self-deception. Moreover, self-deception has the terrible mania of becoming part of organizational culture, especially in large organizations. What I just said is wrong, beg your pardon. The inverse is the correct statement: organizations have the suicide obsession of self-deception. Hence, it is time to talk about project drivers, restrictions and priorities. Buckle up, here we go:
In my experience, every project has a driver. What do I mean by “driver”? In this context, it means the ultimate restriction to respect. It could be time if urgency is key. It could be cost if a limited budget is cornerstone. It could be quality if excellence is the choice. It could even be scope, if it is all about meeting a list of requirements. But the argument stands: there is always an upmost aspect to attain above all the other. Not two, not three. There is one and only one driver. Of course, this doesn’t means that there could be a secondary parameter to respect or even a third, but a scale of priorities is always inherently present. Moreover, as per the nature of projects (of reality we may say), if we accelerate the pace, the rate of resource usage increases, which translates in more costs (unless you cut scope or quality). If the scope increases, this implies more time and/or cost. If the budget is reduced, it will impact the pace, the scope and/or the quality of the outcomes. These are hard, historically proven facts: it’s the old triple-restriction story yet once again. Nonetheless, and as stated in the opening, we don’t have these truths as clear and present in our minds as they should. BTW, when I say “we”, I mean mainly the PM community but this applies to the entire universe of project stakeholders: Sponsors, PMOs, Steering Committees, Managers, Directors, SMEs, you name it. All right, but “So what?” you may ask. Let’s conclude this short article then with a practical conclusion:
PMs should be the first evangelists of this truth. Every time we receive an endeavor, we must ask: “What is the project driver?” – and explain the nature of the question and the implications of the answer as well. It should be a mantra, a fixation, a standard procedure, over and over again. On the other hand, organizations and their leaders (Managers, Directors and especially C-Suite staff) must acknowledge this truth, once and for all. People making org decisions must align the project portfolio to strategies, priorities and drivers. There ain´t no such thing such as a “good, pretty, fast & cheap” project. Sometimes the election of the driver isn’t easy, but that is the nature of life: deal with it. You need to choose. Omitting or even deferring this crucial point is a recipe for failure.
The “fast, cheap, flawless, all-requisites in” endeavor is an absurd lie: an utopia that crashes with reality. Let´s stop daydreaming. We see the consequences of this every day in the Project Management world. In the intent of finishing with a positive note, I have also seen the POWER of enforcing the project-driver good practice. It works as an strategical enabler that provides clarity, an ultimate criterion for decisions and a leverage for success: a no-brainer for a true Sponsor. Thus, let´s choose. And let´s choose wisely.
Cheers!
Fernando
Photo by Brian Wertheim on Unsplash
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