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Good-Fast-Cheap

The Range of a Project

It has been said there are three qualities for the completion of a project. Good, Fast, and Cheap.  You can have but two of the three. 

Some projects begin with no clear goal, little money, and no deadline.  Other projects enjoy a clear goal, unlimited money, and a very short deadline. The first is a project of the disinterested investigator - the academic for example.  The other is a national or industrial project desperately needed.  Others live in the middle, and often conclude with middling results.  The development of the atomic bomb during World War II found itself at both extremes of the range.  The Apollo space project during the 60's and 70's is another example. Others include the hunt for a polio vaccine in the 50's. The development of the Internet in the 90's is similar.  None of these registered low on the cheap-o-meter, and though frightfully expensive all were met in their time with near universal acclaim. Some still are.

It seems the United States and any other country is at its best when there is a unambiguous goal together with a total resolve to achieve it. It mobilizes resources; it stimulates competition; it inspires genius.

However, when the goal is tainted with adversary politics, the goal is blurred, the commitment is diminished, and the outcomes are degraded regardless of expenditures.
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