Isaac FreemanThe worst thing that ever happened in software engineering was when Kirk asked Scotty how long something would take and Scotty said thirty minutes and Kirk said you’ve got five and Scotty got it done in five and impressionable children watched this and grew up to become managers.
Kay 
@isaacfreeman and engineers grew up to know they should lie to unreasonable managers. Scotty only needed to flip a switch, the extra 4 minutes 50 seconds was to get a cup of coffee or nip of whisky
@Kay This is the case, and Scotty padding his estimates is the second worst thing that ever happened in software engineering.
@isaacfreeman I'm not an engineer, I'm ops with database admin role but I still have to respond to managers who want to know how long something will take.
I sometimes hint at the Timeliness vs Perfection equation - do you want it quick or done right?
@Kay For sure. I am of course being snarky. It’s frustrating for everyone that complex technical work can’t be estimated reliably. And nobody thinks they’re Kirk in this scenario, just someone in the middle who’s required to come up with a schedule.
@isaacfreeman and managers don't think they're being unreasonable when they ask how long something will take, but then they put it into a budget and base staff requirements on the speed needed to process X number of widgets without allowing anything for breaks, not perfect days, contingencies and all workers below manager level end up working unpaid extras to catch up with an impossible schedule ....
.
Dealing with this in my current contract. Risk of setting expectations into stone
.
Dealing with this in my current contract. Risk of setting expectations into stone
Collette Lynner@Kay @isaacfreeman the fudge factor works for managers too.