Fast, Good, or Cheap?

It's the season for offsites, where strategic planning goes on its first date with reality. OKRs get set, workstreams get defined, and you order that slightly more expensive bottle of wine.

If you're like me and you throw up a little in your mouth when you hear the phrase "we are going to set SMART goals," try on a different conceptual framework as you scope out what you're doing this year: the Iron Triangle.

The Iron Triangle is another description for what project managers call the Triple Constraint or Project Triangle. It's a framework that forces leaders to rank their priorities and accept tradeoffs: do we value cost, urgency, or quality the most?

The problem most leaders have: they want all three.

The problem many teams have: they don't explicitly rank these before beginning work.

The impact of one or both of those problems: actual results don't match a leader's desired results.

Unlike SMART goals, the Iron Triangle is intuitive:

• Do you want something fast and cheap? It'll have to be low-quality, then.
• Do you want this project to deliver exceptional results? That outcome will require significant money and person-hours.
• Do you have to get something done soon? What are you willing to do to make that happen: throw bodies and money at the problem or accept a crappy outcome?

When teams hold offsites or start executing initiatives, these are critical discussions to have! The ideating, vision board creation, brainstorming: these are the fun parts that are oh-so seductive to jump into before laying down the ground rules of what matters most.

In the Offsite-in a-Box, I embedded this in the Brainstorm Better Checklist (page 17) because brainstorming is sultry and the Iron Triangle is like figuring out who pays the bill.

But you always gotta pay the bill.

If you looked at all your workstreams, how would you apply the Iron Triangle? Do you value cost, urgency, or quality the most? Help me out with a social experiment and vote: which of the three constraints do YOU value the most?

Vote: Cost, Quality, or Speed?

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A TL;DR from the CRO

In the Cozy Triangle of Soft, Warm, and Peaceful, I prioritize all three.

-Roman Noodles, Chief Ruff Officer

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TL;DRs About Offsites

Last year Learn to Scale popped out a series of blog posts about pitching, planning, and running offsites. If you're looking to catch up and get your 2024 offsite on the calendar, use these articles to get you there!

• ​What's an offsite?​
• ​Why run an offsite?​
• ​How do I plan an offsite for a small team?​
• ​How do I plan an offsite for a team within a large organization?​
• ​How much does an offsite cost?​
• ​What are some sample offsite schedules?​
• ​How do I pitch an offsite to decisionmakers?​
• ​Who do I invite to an offsite?​
• ​The slide deck and script to pitch an offsite​

And the big kahuna, the Offsite-in-a-Box, is a comprehensive guide and workbook to help you plan a corporate offsite that delivers high-impact results.

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THE GREAT PUNXSUTAWNEY PHIL HAS SPOKEN

SPRING SHALL COMMENCE EARLY

With such an important prediction in the books, we all should start ordering seeds for the spring now. I like using Baker's Creek because their selection is massive, they ship quickly and affordably, and their catalog inserts hilarious images of people posing with produce:

May your cabbages be extra large this year,

Dan from Learn to Scale​

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​PS. When you have a harmonica but wish you had an accordion, turn to the Accordion Tomato​