Managing Polarities in Pursuit of Quality

摘要

One of the questions for this conference is "can complexity be managed or are we destined for complete chaos?" The key concept in that phrase is that of managing complexity, versus being at the whims of a complex system. Sometimes a sense of powerlessness results from treating interdependent factors as independent of one another and then being surprised at the negative impacts that occur because we weren't aware of their interrelatedness. For example, taking the stance "we need to focus on quality no matter what it costs or how long it takes" could result in a wildly over-budget project that is obsolete or of no interest to the customer by the time it is released. This is more likely in a situation in which costs and time to market aren't proactively managed at some level. The opposite also holds true, going for speed at the expense of quality, or cost at the expense of quality might mean losing customers' trust and business, beginning a downward slide that finishes the organization. The reality is that all of these factors are important and influence each other to some degree: quality AND cost AND time to develop. These are just a few dynamics that may be competing with each other in our world.