The incommensurability of 'faster, better, cheaper': NASA's rhetorical bind

Abstract

Ideally, decisions in technical organizations are made on the basis of science; in reality, these decisions are frequently subject to, and outweighed by, political or economic pressures. This phenomenon may be illuminated by examining project management from the perspective of systems theory. Discussed in this paper is the project management within the context of systems theory, using NASA's losses of the Mars Polar Lander and the Mars Climate Orbiter as examples. NASA uses the "faster, better, cheaper" (FBC) approach to project management. However, this approach embodies goals that are incommensurable: "faster" is a political goal; "better" is a scientific goal; and "cheaper" is an economic goal. NASA thus faces a rhetorical bind, in which its ostensible goal, "better," becomes subordinate to the goals of "faster" or "cheaper,".