Can one achieve all three? Maybe. Such maxims are rarely absolute -- few things in life are truly absolute. "It depends" is a highly overworked phrase. But the general truth here certainly seems borne out by looking at any significant body of data. For one thing, generally, it depends on the project. If the project is to write the numeral one on a piece of paper, pull out a piece of paper and write a one on it. It probably can't be done much better, faster, or cheaper, but that's not the type of project this sort of thing is usually applied to. On the other hand this type of thing usually has an implied "all other things being equal" and changing the situation by replacing the team with a set of superstars working for free would no doubt make it faster, cheaper and better, but that's really changing the "rules" in a way which the phrase was never intended to cover and which is unrealistic for the average project. Keeping an open mind is a good thing and designers should always be open to finding ways of pushing the envelope but it isn't realistic to just expect that to happen and the maxim applies more often than not. Rather than looking for ways of overcoming that general truth, one's time would probably be better spent ensuring that, unlike too many projects, the results aren't poor, slow and expensive.;-)