Fast, Cheap or Good: Pick 2

Wednesday Weblog for January 20, 2021

Quote of the Week:

People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don't know each other; they don't know each other because they have not communicated with each other.-Martin Luther King Jr.

Leading Off: King Boston

The King Boston memorial, The Embrace, will be anchored on Boston Common, where, in 1965, Dr. King called Boston to live by its highest ideals. The Common, America’s first public park, has a vibrant 400-year-old history and a tradition of civic gatherings. The new memorial will spark a new public conversation about how to advance racial and social justice in Boston today.

When it is dedicated, currently planned for 2022, the Embrace will provide a living space for conversation, education and reflection on the racial and economic justice ideals of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King, and serve as a permanent monument to the Kings’ time in Boston, a period in which they met and fell in love, and which helped shape their approach to a just and equitable society.

---From the King Boston Web site

The Embrace - King Boston

Fast, Cheap or Good: Pick 2

Years ago, someone smarter than me said in a project meeting: ‘Fast, Cheap or Good, pick two" and I remembered it and have recognized this seemingly universal rule over and over again.

Even if you’ve never heard the expression, when you think about it, you can recognize projects, programs, and priorities in your past or current world where it was/is true or where someone in charge picked the two.

In my experience organizations make the same two choices over and over again, as part of their culture.

FAST & CHEAP: Some organizations, products, services, or projects are Fast and Cheap, but not Good. Discount stores and dollar stores might be in this category. Paper plates also come to mind, and $3 chardonnays are included here.

FAST & GOOD: Others are Fast and Good, but not Cheap. This category might include upscale or midscale department stores. Any product made by Bose is in this category and most of the things in LL Bean’s catalogue fall into this category. UPS delivery is here.

CHEAP & GOOD: Still others are Cheap and Good, but not Fast. This could be something on Etsy or from China. That bobblehead you ordered for a friend before Christmas also comes to mind. USPS in December is here.

NONE OF THE ABOVE: But those aren’t the only ‘outcomes’ or types of organizations. You can also have products or services that are not Fast and not Cheap, and not Good. And whatever they might be, they probably don’t last.

ALL OF THE ABOVE: Theoretically, you can also have things that are fast, cheap, and good, and that is probably why Amazon is Amazon.

COMPANY CULTURE

As referenced, "Fast, Cheap and Good, Pick Two", doesn’t just apply to retail, it applies to organizational culture as well.

In my experience, whatever the two most common choices among Fast, Cheap and Good made in any organization, define the culture.

I’ve worked places where it was Fast and Good, and we spent a lot of money for quality and speed.
I’ve also had experience in the Cheap and Good world, and it took forever to get things and to get things done.
Then there is always Fast and Cheap culture. An embarrassing place to work or a desperate organization.

When organizations change direction, get a new CEO, or refocus their energies, one of the key components of that direction change is modifying the current Fast-Cheap-Good ratio to a new one.

It is one of the reasons that there is so much turnover when organizations change leadership.

If it is a Fast & Cheap organization, where people have been rewarded for quick and easy, when ‘Good’ becomes the new standard, watch out, lots of habits have been ingrained that are now ‘bad.’
If it is a Cheap & Good company, with people rewarded for taking their own sweet time to get it right, any change is likely to disrupt because the new standard of speed can be tough to master.
If it is a Fast & Good company, those with the penny-pinching gene quickly fall out of favor.

How can you tell which type of organization you are with? Didn’t you already rate yours while reading this? Don’t you already know?

Don't you also know that YOU prefer one of the options personally?

Are you a Fast and Good or a Fast, and Cheap, or a Good and Cheap person?

If your personal preference matches that of the organization you are involved with, you ‘fit.’ If it doesn’t, you don’t.

Someone in the back asked a very important question: “Is it possible to be Fast, Cheap and Good?” And the answer is simple: yes, that is known as ‘Success.’ Very rare.

To stand out, in my opinion, confirm what your organizational culture might be. Identify the two choices 'they' have picked, keep them in mind as you do your work, and work hard to add the third.

If you are in a Fast and Cheap culture, and you add Good to make it Fast, Cheap and Good, you will stand out.
If you are in a Fast and Good culture, and you figure out a way to reduce costs or increase efficiency, you will also stand out.
If you are in a Good and Cheap culture, and you discover methods to speed up the process or project, you will stand out a lot.

In fact, the best performers actually master their understanding of the organizational culture and proactively align behavior to the two unstated priorities while working to add the third.

Fast, Cheap and Good is always welcomed by everyone, whether it is a pizza delivery, a chardonnay, a car, a pinstripe suit, a steak, a stimulus check, a date, a mask, or a team member.

Once you understand Fast, Cheap and Good, you don't have to choose.

Surprise Photo at the End: Nice Legs

Thanks for reading and thanks for referring.

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