Every manager dreams of making changes that are quick, cheap, and result in top-notch quality.
Sadly, unless you’ve discovered a magic wand, you’ll have to contend with what I call the Golden Triangle of Change: cost, quality, and time.
Whenever you want to make a change in business, you need to consider these three points. If you want to change one, it’s almost certain you’ll affect the other two.
Let’s say you want to improve the quality of your product, it’s likely to take longer, cost more, or both. If you want to reduce costs, you may well find that time increases or quality drops. And if you want to do things more quickly, it might cost you more, or you might find you’ve lost quality somewhere along the way.
Many people try to implement change by simply making instructions clearer: ‘Do this more! Do that less!’ But there are also knock-on effects. Often the cost of change is steepest right at the start – quality dips and people quietly resist before they come on board. That’s normal – expect it, there’s no cause for alarm.
As I’ve mentioned before, if you’re going to make a change, you must emphasise why it’s necessary, and why it’s necessary now – and make it really clear what people need to do moving forward. And make sure management are supporting and visibly living the changes too.
So next time you’re tempted to promise a change that’s faster, cheaper, and better, stop and ask which corner of the triangle you’re really willing to give ground on. Be honest with your team about that trade-off and make sure your management team leads the way.
No magic wand required! Now, ‘Izzy whizzy, let’s get busy!’
