Which of the following best explains the concept of the Iron Triangle?

MODULE 1 QUIZWhich of the following best describes the challenge referred toashealthcare's"iron triangle"?

All agile software projects have goals: what the project needs to deliver, when it needs to be delivered by and within what budget. However, managing these three constraints can be a complex juggling act. So let's take a cue from the decades-old iron triangle of planning and learn how balancing different variables can help agile software teams achieve agile project management nirvana.

Iron triangle project management has constraints that are considered "iron" because you can't change one constraint without impacting the others. The original iron triangle project management, proposed by Dr. Martin Barnes in 1969, follows a waterfall approach to product development: scope is fixed and resources and time are variable. For a software team, this means that teams start a project by defining product requirements to determine a project's scope (a list of work items). The resources and schedule are variable and are estimated depending on the fixed scope.

Constraints of the iron triangle

  • Scope is the work to be done – such as features and functionalities – to deliver a working product.
  • Resources include budget and team members working to deliver and execute.
  • Time is when teams will deliver to the market such as releases and milestones.

The purpose of iron triangle project management is to give product teams the necessary information to make trade-offs that will help the business. For example, if teams are faced with a fixed scope, they might be halfway through a project and realize that they won't hit their release date. The only variables they can play with are: 1) Time - they can accept a later release date or 2) Resources - they can add some more people to the project, which will increase costs. As software development evolved in the 21st century, the need for better collaboration and the ability to respond quickly to customer feedback became crucial, and thus, the agile methodology was born.  

Which of the following best explains the concept of the Iron Triangle?

If your team practices waterfall project management or are new to agile development, the important thing to remember is the difference between what is fixed and what is estimated. Unlike waterfall development, agile projects have a fixed schedule and resources while the scope varies. While the scope of a project might change in agile development, teams commit to fixed iterations of work: sprints if you're using a scrum framework and WIP limits if you're using a kanban framework. It's also a best practice to keep teams fixed throughout the development process. By keeping teams consistent on a product or project, they become more efficient through developed trust and continuity.  

Which of the following best explains the concept of the Iron Triangle?

The idea of scope is the same in agile development: what software to build and deliver. However, agile focuses on high-level requirements rather than trying to come with deep and detailed requirements upfront. The scope of a project gets regularly managed and groomed (prioritized) by the product manager in a tool like Jira Software. The product manager decides which work should be accomplished in the next sprint based on agile qualitative and quantitative feedback from various channels (market conditions, customer feedback, competitions, etc..). And because resources and time are fixed, it's easier for development teams to react to market changes and to deliver value to customers faster. This transparency of constraints keeps teams honest about a consistent and fast release cadence, which is a key tenant of agile development; and by looking at projects through the lens of the iron triangle teams are able to adapt without abandoning a plan.  

As projects become bigger, more teams are needed and the time box gets longer. Thus, the notion of fixing resources and time, while scope varies, is not a valid approach for all agile projects. Long-term agile planning requires a more flexible iron triangle that allows teams to plan ahead and ensures that they're meeting the business objectives. Think for instance about the lean startup movement, and the notion of a minimum viable product (MVP). An MVP by definition is a small set of features (scope) that delivers customer value. To get to that MVP, teams might need to stick to a fixed scope – the number of features – with time being their only variable (e.g. you can't release without certain features, so the release date gets pushed). Only after launching the MVP, teams switch to a variable scope. 

Regardless of the differences between waterfall and agile development, when using the iron triangle, there’s no right or wrong way. It's there to help you make the best decisions and trade-offs to reach your business goals. A tool like Roadmaps visualizes the building blocks of a plan – scope, people, and time – to help teams plan in real-time. You can easily play with scope, teams and time to plan your next product release, using the team's existing data in Jira Software. 

You may have seen the complicated flow chart demonstrating “How A Bill Becomes a Law” and wondered if that is really how the government works. Well, yes and no. Much of the business of politics happens behind the scenes. Iron Triangles are one way that the work of politics happens outside formal channels. But what exactly is the definition of an Iron Triangle and how does it work in government? What purpose do they serve?

Iron Triangle Definition

The definition of an Iron Triangle is three elements consisting of interest groups, congressional committees, and bureaucratic agencies working together to create policy about a specific issue. Iron Triangles are defined by mutually advantageous relationships. Iron Triangles are ideas, not actual buildings, places, or institutions.

Policymaking in American government is a complicated and slow process requiring the cooperation and compromise of many different institutions. The framers of the U.S. system of government intentionally created a system that would take time and would require people to work together. One way that policymaking is carried out is through the idea of the Iron Triangle.

Iron Triangles are not a formal part of the system of U.S. Government policymaking, but in reality, it is often how work gets done. Groups work together to create policy because they want to accomplish goals and preserve and expand their own influence and power. Iron Triangles are often referred to as subgovernments because of their power and ability to achieve policy.

Policy: an action that the government takes. Examples of policy include laws, regulations, taxes, court decisions, and budgets.

Iron Triangle in Government

When bureaucratic agencies, members of congressional committees, and interest groups form relationships with one another, depend on one another, and are in frequent contact, they often form Iron Triangles in government. These triads have benefits for all three involved.

Congressional Committees

Because the work of Congress is so vast and complicated, it is broken down into committees. Committees focus on specific policy-making areas so that their attention is focused narrowly. Members of Congress desire to be assigned to committees related to their interests and constituents' needs. For example, a Congressperson representing a state that relies heavily on farming for its economy would want to be assigned to the agriculture committee to promote policy that benefits their home state.

Interest Groups

Interest groups consist of citizens who share a specific interest and work in various ways to achieve policy goals. They are often referred to as special interest groups. Interest groups are a linkage institution.

Linkage Institution: a political channel through which citizens’ concerns and needs become issues placed on the political agenda. Linkage institutions connect people to the government. Other examples of linkage institutions include elections, the media, and political parties.

Some of the ways that interest groups work to achieve policy goals are through electioneering and fundraising, lobbying, litigating, and using the media to go public.

Bureaucratic Agencies

The Bureaucracy is often referred to as the unofficial 4th branch of government because of its enormous size and responsibility, but the bureaucracy is part of the executive branch. Bureaucratic agencies are responsible for implementing the laws that Congress makes. The bureaucracy is a hierarchical structure with the President at the top. Underneath the President are the 15 cabinet departments, which are further subdivided into agencies.

  • About 4 million Americans comprise the bureaucracy

  • The bureaucracy is more broadly representative of the American public than any other branch of government

  • The Department of Defense, with about 1.3 million men and women in uniform, and about 733,000 civilians, is the largest employer in the bureaucracy.

  • Fewer than 1 in 7 bureaucrats work in Washington, D.C.

  • There are over 300,000 government buildings in the United States.

  • There are over 560,000 postal workers employed by the United States Postal Service, a government corporation.

Bureaucratic Agencies, Interest Groups, and Congressional Committee members form the three corners of the Iron Triangle in government.

Why would these three elements work together? Simply put, they need each other. Members of Congressional Committees and the Bureaucracy need interest groups because they are policy experts. They provide Congress with research and information. Individual members also rely on interest groups to raise money to donate to their reelection campaigns. Interest groups also use the media in savvy ways and can shape the voting public’s opinion of congressional members or on issues.

Interest Groups need Congress because they control policy development that benefits them. The Bureaucracy needs Congress because they create policy that affects them such as appropriations for their agencies.

Which of the following best explains the concept of the Iron Triangle?
Fig. 1, Iron Triangle Diagram, Wikimedia Commons

Iron Triangle Example

One example of an Iron Triangle at work is the tobacco triangle.

Which of the following best explains the concept of the Iron Triangle?
Fig. 2, Seal of the Department of Agriculture, Wikimedia Commons

Bureaucratic agency: The Tobacco Division of the Department of Agriculture. They create regulations that pertain to tobacco production and businesses that affect interest groups and provide information to congressional committees.

Interest Grou

Which of the following best explains the concept of the Iron Triangle?
Fig. 3, Example of gift offered to politician by tobacco lobbyists, Wikimedia Commonsp: The Tobacco lobby includes both tobacco farmers and tobacco manufacturers.

They offer support, campaign financing, and information to Congressional Committees. Interest groups also provide the bureaucracy with specific information and support their budget requests.

Which of the following best explains the concept of the Iron Triangle?
Fig. 4, Seal of Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry - Wikimedia Commons

Congressional Committee: Agriculture subcommittees in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Congress makes laws that affect the tobacco industry and approves bureaucratic budget requests.

These links between the three points form the sides of the Iron Triangle.

After World War II, with the advent of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, the United States increased its defense spending resulting in the growth of a permanent military establishment and investment in expensive advanced technology that benefitted the military.

President Eisenhower famously created the term, and warned about, the military-industrial complex. The military-industrial complex refers to the close relationship between the military hierarchy and the defense industry that supplies them with what they need. Throughout the 1950s and 60s, the United States Defense Department received over half the federal budget. Currently, the Department received about 1/5 of the federal budget.

The military-industrial complex is a iron triangle because of political spending by Congress exercising their power of the purse, contributions from lobbyists, and bureaucratic oversight.

Power of the Purse: Congress is vested with the power to tax and spend public money; this power is known as the power of the purse.

The purpose of an Iron Triangle in government is for federal bureaucrats, special interest groups, and members of congressional committees to form an alliance to work together to influence and create policy. These three points of the triangle share a policy-making relationship that is beneficial to all.

A drawback of the Iron Triangle is that constituents’ needs may often come behind the needs of the the bureaucracy, interest groups, and congress as they pursue their own goals. Regulations that benefit a small minority or pork barrel legislation that only affects a narrow constituency are results of the Iron Triangle.

Pork Barrel: The use of government funds in such ways as government projects, contracts, or grants in order to please legislators or voters and win votes

A benefit of the Iron Triangle is the cooperative benefit of sharing expertise between the three elements of the triangle.

Iron Triangle - Key takeaways

  • One way that policymaking is carried out is through the idea of the Iron Triangle.
  • The definition of an Iron Triangle is three elements consisting of interest groups, congressional committees, and bureaucratic agencies working in concert to create policy around a specific issue.
  • Iron Triangles are formed around symbiotic relationships between the three points of the Iron Triangle.
  • An example of an Iron Triangle is members of the Congressional Committee on Education, the Department of Education, and the National Education Association working together to create policy that is mutually beneficial.
  • The purpose of an Iron Triangle is to achieve policy goals and influence government in ways that are mutually beneficial for all three parties: interest groups, congressional committees, and the bureaucracy.

Interest groups, congressional committees, and bureaucratic agencies working together to create policy and expand their influence and power. 

The three parts of the iron triangle are congressional committees, special interest groups, and bureaucratic agencies.

The role of an Iron Triangle is to achieve policy goals and influence government in ways that are mutually beneficial for all three parties: interest groups, congressional committees, and the bureaucracy. 

One impact of Iron Triangle on government services is that the cooperative benefit of sharing expertise between the three elements of the triangle can result in more efficient policy creation. 

Another impact of the Iron Triangle on government services is that constituents’ needs may often come behind the needs of the the bureaucracy, interest groups, and congress as the pursue their own goals.  Regulations that benefit a small minority or pork barrel legislation that only affects a narrow constituency are results of the Iron Triangle. 

Federal bureaucrats, special interest groups, and members of congressional committees form an alliance to work together to influence and create policy. These three points of the triangle share a policy-making relationship that is beneficial to all. 

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Who forms the three points of the Iron Triangle?

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Members of Congressional Committees, Interest Groups, and Bureaucratic Agencies

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What are ways that interest groups achieve their goals:

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Going to the media, litigation, lobbying

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Bureaucracy is often referred to as the 

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In what way is a bureaucratic agency dependent on a congressional committee:

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What is an example of a linkage institution:

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Interest groups are policy_____?:

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Answer

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Iron Triangles are also known as what?

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Why do the three elements of the Iron Triangle work together?

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Because they need each other

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What is the purpose of an Iron Triangle:

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To make mutually beneficial policy and expand influence and power