The triple constraint

The classic project management triangle (also known as triple constraint or the iron triangle) coined the popular saying Time, Quality, Cost. Pick two. The triangle is shown as follows:

The triple constraint is a model used in project management to visualize the constraints on any projects, and to consider how optimizing the project for one area would cause another area to suffer:

• Time and Quality: You can design and build a high-quality platform in a short time, but you'll need to hire a lot of experienced developers, which will be expensive.
• Time and Cost: You can build a platform quickly with a few inexperienced developers, but the quality will be low.
• Quality and Cost: You can tell a few inexperienced developers to design and plan a platform properly. It'll be of good quality, but it's going to take a long time because they'll need time to learn the principles and apply them.

Most businesses are limited largely by their time and cost: by time, because for each day the product is not launched, the greater the chance their competitor delivers a similar product and captures the first-mover advantage (FMA); by cost, because the company still has to pay their staff salaries while the product is not generating any revenue.

To exacerbate the problem, many managers and business owners are focused more on tangible, immediate results, rather than long-term rewards. For these reasons, when given the choice, most decision-makers pick time and cost over quality.