“Everyone knows it takes a woman nine months to have a baby. But you Americans think if you get nine women pregnant, you can have a baby in a month.”
Theodore von Kármán, The Mythical Man-Month
In many industries, it’s taken for granted that adding more resources means faster results. Yet, in knowledge work this assumption can derail project timelines and undermine quality.
There are at least four constraints in play:
– Sequential Constraints: Some Steps Can’t Be Skipped
You can’t bake a loaf of bread or teach someone to ride a bike faster by adding people. Some processes need to follow a fixed sequence which can’t be rushed or done simultaneously without sacrificing value.
– Natural Saturation: Beyond a Point, Extra Effort Is Wasteful
No matter what we do, hair and nails grow at their own pace, limited by natural biological processes. Adding hair products or supplements won’t influence the quality of growth, but not the quantity.
– Throughput Constraints: Increased Volume Isn’t Faster Imagine you have a laundry machine that takes an hour to complete one load of clothes. Adding more machines lets you wash more clothes simultaneously, but each load still takes an hour to finish.
Let’s shift the conversation from “more resources, faster results” to “right resources, realistic timelines.” It’s not just about efficiency—it’s about making real value for the client.