I've been noodling a thought here recently related to #tech #leadership and #projectmanagement. Still formulating, but I'll post here to see if anyone has thoughts.
Except in some rare cases, deadlines should almost never exist for individual contributors.
The process of building software is almost always chaotic and difficult to estimate. #Management is able to control the levers of scope, staff, and budget if they want (limited) control over hitting some date, so why put that on ICs?
...of course, that's not to say I'm suggesting there should be no accountability. Good planning, mentorship, and peer review should be able to maintain velocity and performance standards. And at the expense of leaning on an oft-overused and mis-applied phrase ... Being agile with expectations and priorities is important.
Shipping software in a sustainable and ethical way is possible
@joelmartinez 100% agree with this. Individual engineers/artists should have *targets* not *deadlines*.
The only time deadlines are appropriate is when you want fast over good.
