QCD
Updated 2026-08-08
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
QCD stands for quality, cost, and delivery, the three dimensions of operational performance that constrain each other. Quality is conformance to requirements. Cost is the resource consumed per unit of output. Delivery is meeting the promised timing. The model's claim is that the three trade off against each other: raising quality typically raises cost, cutting cost typically delays delivery, and compressing delivery typically degrades quality. Managing performance therefore means choosing a balance appropriate to the strategy rather than maximizing one dimension.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Use priority setting: state which of the three dimensions the strategy makes primary before optimizing. - Use tension mapping: identify where improving one dimension is currently pushing against another. - Use monitor board: track all three together so a gain in one does not hide a loss in another.
Anchor fast decisions
Each dimension can be improved in isolation by sacrificing the others, so a target on one creates pressure that shows up somewhere else. A cost reduction program that shortens inspection time reduces quality, and an expedited schedule that skips validation produces defects that return later as cost. Tracking all three together makes the displacement visible at the time it happens rather than after the consequences appear. Stating a priority in advance supplies the rule for resolving conflicts.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_chromodynamicsverified
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