Is Faster/Better/Cheaper Always Best?

Faster/better/cheaper is the tagline for a recent client project. Not too different from other projects, other initiatives, other quests. We seem, in our personal and professional lives, to want to speed things up, maximize value, and do it with fewer and fewer resources and less money. It is the reason WalMart is such a powerhouse as their aim is to help you “Save Money – Live Better”.  And faster is implied with their massive stores containing everything from groceries to hard goods and 34 check-out lines to get you in and out and back to your car posthaste.

And I’m not immune to that thinking. I challenge students in my Entrepreneurship class to find new ways to solve problems people have, to imagine ways to create a business that can do something faster or better, although I warn against competing on price alone (the cheaper). My change management practice aims to help clients implement change faster and better – and with less drama and resistance.

Yet I wonder if faster/better/cheaper should really be our north star for all things and for all situations.

In my experience:

• A thoughtfully planned and executed business project tends to be far superior than one hastily thrown together
• Well designed and constructed public spaces nourish and inspire me far more than quickly constructed, cost effective, cement block big boxes with a fancy façade
• In depth, over time, non-rushed learning opportunities serve me better than forty five minute webinars
• A home cooked meal beats any fast food – no matter how cheap or fast
• Time with friends, face to face, is better than a Facebook post any old day
• A lovingly hand crafted piece of art trumps mass produced “me too” pieces
• The book is almost always better than the movie and without doubt better than the cliff notes
• Home grown veggies and flowers are greatly superior to their production line cousins – even though they may be irregularly shaped and have a few imperfections
• A real, heart-to-heart conversation beats a text or a tweet or a LinkedIn update

Yet at the same time, I appreciate that:

• Planes, trains and automobiles enable me to travel faster and better
• Agribusiness provides us with an abundant supply of safe and easy to access food
• There are a multitude of ways I can get answers quickly – and for the most part without spending a penny
• I have at my disposal a wealth of consumer goods – more than at any other time in history
• I can connect, communicate and collaborate with people around the globe – all without leaving my office
• I have access to an amazing trove of information – quickly and at nothing but the cost of a PC and an internet connection

So perhaps, at times, we need to just pause and ask:

• What is lost when we do things faster/better/cheaper? What is gained?
• Are there things better done slowly and carefully and then as a result, more expensively, but in the end, far worth it?
• What do I really value? And am I willing to pay a bit more, in time or money, for a different experience?
• What do my customers really value? Perhaps it is not always the cheapest or the fastest.
• What is the true cost of all that we have access to? For those that produced it? For the planet? For communities across the globe?

As usual, I have far more questions than answers. I’m curious to hear your thoughts.