To put it simply, employing cheap labor using cheap tools with crap to no motivation produces shoddy work. How can you get a first grade performer with those odds? Every good piece of work comes at a price.

An artisan worth his salt would demand his rightful fee. With the fee in his pocket, he would break his back to get you what you want.

• Do you want it faster?
• Do you want it cheaper?
• Do you want it to sparkle?

It is possible to get one. Notice the stress is on getting *one*. You cannot get them all. You will have to forgo some in order to get that one option.

Everything has its price. Sometimes the workman is only as good as the tools with which he has to work. It is true there are work arounds to these, but at what cost?

It is not just the monetary cost, but the consequences you would have to endure tomorrow for the shortcuts you are taking today.

• It might be technical debt
• It might be a non-scalable architecture tomorrow
• It might be in not being able to keep promises to customers tomorrow

In economics this is opportunity cost.

Yes it is painful. It is painful to have to choose. In a way there is a poetic justice to the fact that one person cannot have it all. This is evident in many sphere of life, including project management.

The funds of the client are just that much, yet still he wants the world, the stars and the moon as well. As an expert within your chosen field, you should explain to clients that

• Resources from the vendor are not cheap
• That producing quality work needs time
• That they cannot have it yesterday
• That the price they gave you to go into the market with cannot get the latest model
• That fast models require that fee they are unwilling or unable to pay
• That you need time to put configure, test and deploy the solution so that it does not cause problems tomorrow.

In many instances the client does not know what he should leave out. He might think you are taking him for a ride. That is why it is so important to communicate.

You should know enough of your client and his business in order to advise them. That is why they approached you. They trust you know the work better than they do.

Let us end by saying, the true cost of anything is what we must give up in order to have that thing we treasure.

So in trying to meet your goals on the task, the project, in the coming year what will you leave out?