Steve Bogner is Managing Partner at Insight Consulting Partners and worked with SAP HR/Payroll since 1993. Follow Steve's thoughts on SAP HR technology, process and people, as well as the consulting profession here at the Insight Blog. Steve is also on Twitter at 'SteveBogner'.
I came across some wise words a few days ago; and as wise words will do, they have been spurring some thought:
'Good, fast, cheap - pick any two'
As a consultant it sounds a bit self-serving, I realize. Stepping outside the consulting world, the wisdom is apparent. Can you hire a plumber who is good, fast and cheap? Good and fast - yes. Fast and cheap - yes. Good and cheap - probably. But all three at the same time? How about cars? I think it holds true, on the whole, for that too. As a general rule, I do believe it applies to consulting.
Yet, I see examples every week where someone is expecting all three: good, fast and cheap. And I suppose one can expect and demand that, but the results won't be good. Take a look at the failed projects you know of - and there are a good number of them around - I suspect that they were demanding good, fast and cheap - and something had to give. They had cost overruns, or quality suffered, or they took longer to implement than planned.
This is different from maximizing or economizing; we should all strive to do good work, without wasting time, that is of high quality. The point is that these three factors are all related. When maximizing the three goes over the edge into compromising one or more of them, then we are really getting what we asked for.
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Comments
Re: Managing Expectations: Good, Fast & Cheap
Very well said as always and thought provoking.
I would like to think that I am fast, provide good quaility and am "market priced" compared to the big consulting companies and depending on engagement type (ie remote) may even fall in the "cheap" category.
I believe that selling consultants with 2-4 years experience as Senior consultants at a high billable rate which is industry standard for many companies will ensure projects are slow, poor quality and expensive....the opposite mix needed for a sucessful project.
Companies should ensure they do comprehensive technical interviews....check references and be creative in their hiring as every consultants shouldnt have to come from a prefered vendor.
There are ways to get a good mix of the characteristics above but clients have to be creative and flexible.
Re: Managing Expectations: Good, Fast & Cheap
Hi Jarret - Thanks for your perspective on this. I think 'market rate' always has to be viewed in relation to the value a person brings to a project. Cheap rates usually mean low value, for example. And that's OK as long as you're not counting on getting a lot for a cheap rate.
'Market rate' reminded me of the phrase 'in this market', which usually means someone is looking only at price, not at value. I've heard 'in this market' in good times as well as bad.
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