“The Requirements Weren’t Clear”
Timeframes are rarely absolutes. Oh yes, there absolutely might be real deadlines , the kind that are actually important (“ We’re releasing in time for the Christmas season, the company depends on it… ”). That said, assuming that the deadline is actually achievable — and not something made up to get people to “work harder” — there is usually some level of uncertainty involved in the timeframes. Take the chart below for example People generally have a very good idea of how long it’ll take them to get Short Term stuff done. And Long Term stuff is usually beholden to the aforementioned deadlines, so there isn’t much uncertainty there (remember, if it’s a real deadline, the uncertainty is around what gets delivered, not when !). The Stuff in Between , however, can be all over the place. It’s the domain of shuffled priorities, unexpected kinks, flu season, market-induced curve balls, and ambiguous requirements ...