with HIPAA. Or the regulations you may have to follow in pharmaceutical, construction, manufacturing, and countless other industries.

     You may also have worked with a customer that said, “I don’t care how much it costs or how long it takes. I need the product to do this.” (Those are my favorite kinds of customers, by the way.) These steep requirements are part of the project scope and in order for the project to be successful the project scope has to be met.

     You’ve just read about the triple constraints of project management: time, cost, and scope. The triple constraints of project management are collectively called “The Iron Triangle.” Imagine an equilateral triangle. If you don’t want to imagine take a look at Figure 1. The bottom of the triangle represents scope, another side represents cost, and the last side represents time.

     In order for the project to be successful the project must remain an equilateral triangle. In other words, you can have a gigantic scope, and puny budget, or a weak schedule. For a project to be successful each side of the Iron Triangle must remain in proportion to the other sides. If your customer wants a scope that’s so big (hold your arms out real wide). And their budget is only this big (now bring your arms in real close together). A big ol’ scope and tiny little budget means just one thing: it ain’t gonna happen.

     The same is true with the schedule. There must be enough time to plan and execute the project in order to achieve the project’s scope. Unrealistic expectations on the schedule usually leads to waste, rework, frustrations, and a decline in morale. In some instances this may also lead to cheap tequila.

Capturing The Picture

     I like photography. I like to look at pictures, take pictures, and mess with filters, lenses, and light meters. In order to really capture a good photo, I’ve learned, you have to see the developed photo in your mind’s eye. You have to look at your en
vironment and see how it’d look once the film’s been developed or the image is printed on your color laser printer. You have to see into the future in order to capture the present in your camera. You must have vision.
Being a project manager really isn’t that different. A project manager must have vision for what the project is to create. The project manager inherits the vision from the key stakeholders, the project sponsor, or even management. In order to plan for the project work the project manager must envision what the end result of the project will be. Like taking a photo, a good photo, the project manager has to study, observe, and see the end result of the efforts before the work begins.

     Another way to look at your new friend the Iron Triangle is to imagine the photographer’s tripod. If you’ve ever worked with a tripod (hopefully with a camera on top) you know the secret is to have the tripod balanced and level. In fact, some camera tripods have a level built into the head so you know when it is level. A level tripod ensures that the photo’s horizon is flat; it makes a goofy picture when the ocean is slipping down to South America.

     Now imagine that one leg of the tripod equates to scope, another to time, and the last is cost. We agree that the tripod has to be balanced to take a good picture, just like a project has to have balance to be successful. If any leg of the tripod is extended more than the others the tripod is off-balance - just like your projects.

     Some tripods are nice and heavy. A heavy tripod helps when you’ve taking a photo in the middle of a river or you’re fighting a wind storm. The trouble with heavy tripods is someone has to carry them. What some photographers do is carry a light tripod and then suspend their camera bag under the tripod to fend off any shakes. A neat trick.

     In project management what’s keeping your project sturdy? Imagine that the area within the three legs of the tripod represents quality. If any leg of the tripod is out of balance then quality is likely to suffer. Quality is in proportion to the amount of time, cost, and scope available for the project deliverables. When one angle of the project suffers so does quality.

     What good is a project’s deliverable if the project is finished on time, but the product or service doesn’t work as promised? Or if the project manager has spent all of the money but didn’t create all