?Note: I first wrote this article for a Nasscom blog
Tom Peters and numerous others have been nudging organizations and individuals to pursue excellence. Result? Discoveries. Innovations. Change. Customer value. Better employee satisfaction. Progress. Advancement.
Today, we’re seeing what some might consider a disturbing trend. This is the peddling of the “fast and cheap” (jugaad) as you see in this BusinessWeek article.
Comments on that article suggest that most disagree with the “fast and cheap.” And comments on a Seth Godin post at TomPeters.com clearly and completely support excellence.
Pursuit-of-the-fast-and-cheap clearly delivers some advantages. But businesses should also be aware of the downside by listening to warnings such as those given by Ross B-School professor M. S. Krishnan: “Jugaad means ‘Somehow, get it done,’ even if it involves corruption … Companies have to be careful. They have to pursue jugaad with regulations and ethics in mind.”
Are you concerned that “fast and cheap” might take us back in time — and therefore away from EXCELLENCE?
If not, do you think the current economic times justify it, as claimed by the authors/promoters of the “fast and cheap”?