Fast and Valuable: The Old “Pick Two” Rule Doesn’t Apply
You’ve heard the line: fast, cheap, good. Pick two. That rule gave people an excuse for slow projects and bloated processes. It doesn’t hold anymore. With the right approach you can have fast and valuable. I’ve been proving it across very different kinds of work. In days, not months.
Why The Old Model Falls Apart
Endless calls. Too many handoffs. Scope creep while people copy data between dashboards. By the time the big project lands, the value’s already gone.
The real problem isn’t effort. It’s disconnection. It wastes time, drains energy, and hides opportunities.
The Fast & Valuable Way
Here’s the difference. This approach is simple. It meets people where they already work and strips out friction first.
- Lean execution: fewer layers, faster decisions.
- AI-augmented builds: prompt engineering speeds up delivery.
- Integration first: connect data and events in the tools you’ve already got.
- Platform agnostic: best-fit tools, no default lock-in.
- Business-first outcomes: clarity, speed, confidence.
What Changes When Systems Actually Talk
Once handoffs are automated and status is visible, work feels lighter. Updates show up where people already are. The team stops chasing.
- Automation replaces manual steps. Fewer errors, less repeat work.
- Visibility by default. Live status without another meeting.
- Teams focus on real value. Less rework, more progress.
- Risk drops. Cleaner data and better audit trails.
Want a neutral explainer on the bigger picture? Read up on Enterprise application integration.
If You’re Not a Leader: What This Means For You
Let’s be blunt. If your day is nothing but copy-paste, that work’s disappearing. Nobody loved that work anyway. Integration takes it off the table.
This isn’t about replacing people. It’s about replacing waste. The people who lean in get better work—helping customers, solving problems, shaping better processes.
How To Adapt Right Now
- Spot one bottleneck: a manual step you repeat daily.
- Trace the handoff: where does that data go next?
- Suggest a small fix: an alert, a sync, a checklist.
- Track the time saved: minutes matter. They add up.
- Share the win: teach one teammate the new way.
The old way didn’t protect jobs. It wasted people. The new way gives you space to grow.
Recent Work, No Names
Regulated ops: logging and evidence collection that makes compliance a live view, not a quarterly scramble.
Consumer MVPs: idea to working product in under 24 hours with iteration loops measured in days.
Ops & IT: resilient stacks that boost visibility without vendor bloat or long rollouts.
Marketing: AI-augmented campaigns launched in days with data flowing into the tools teams already use.
FAQ
- How fast can a first integration go live?
- Simple cases: inside a week. Complex cases: visible progress in the first sprint.
- Do we need to replace our tools?
- Usually not. Connect what you’ve got first. Replace only if there’s a clear win.
- How do we prove value?
- Pick one leading metric and one lagging metric. Example: minutes saved per week and overall delivery cycle time.
- What’s the smallest useful starting point?
- Automate one high-friction handoff. A common start: status sync and notifications between two core systems.