Every task has many ways it can be completed. There’s a great saying that for any given solution you must pick no more than two of the following:
- Fast
- Cheap
- Good
Fast and Good will cost you money. Fast and Cheap will sacrifice your quality. Cheap and Good sacrifices your schedule. Theoretically, you can even choose just one of the three. Even then, plenty of companies pay a lot for bad and slow.
This trade-off happens on every decision made. If you push people to get things done quickly, you have to assume they are either bringing in extra help or risking quality issues. You may not want either of these outcomes, but they are predictable and should be expected.
Understanding these tendencies of human behavior will make your decision-making processes better. If you focus on one corner of the triangle, expect risks to the other two legs. If you actually care about the totality of the process, you must ensure a complete plan that accounts for it.