Made up dates
Plenty of companies make up dates for product launches. Here's why they might work and why they might fail.
Who has ever had this discussion with their management?
“I need more resources to cover the scope!”
“Nope, no additional resources.”
“Okay then we need to change the scope of that thing.”
“I don’t think we can afford to do anything less. Sorry.”
“Well then, we need more time…”
“We’re not giving you more time.”
If this sounds unrealistic, think again. Management teams do this to teams all the time. It happened to Michelangelo when he painted the Sistine Chapel. He was beaten when he took more time than allotted. (Of course he also created a masterpiece.)
Elon Musk famously forces his team into shuttle launch deadlines that defy physics. His team often do get to the launch date. Then again, plenty of his launches fail.
So how does a team make a locked in deadline with locked in resources set out to build a concretely defined product? They pull the fourth lever. When time, scope and resources aren’t variable, quality becomes the lever. So, the way to build something on an unrealistic timeline, is to simply build a crappier version of that thing. I wrote “The Quality Lever” two years ago. The basis of the book was to define quality up front, before considering time, resources and scope and to build this thinking into the fabric of the organization. I still believe in this principle and I see companies screw this up all the time. It’s a culture problem.
Here’s the catch: Sometimes (but surely not all the time) a lower quality product is perfectly suitable. It might even be preferred. For instance, if a team is validating market demand or a design or simply want a jumping off point for feedback, then a low quality experience is a good way to ship something, learn and optimize later. Some would argue this is the basis of product management.
When management teams ask for that thing by that date by that resource, they should have a good read on risk tolerance. Assuming low quality, will it tarnish our brand? Will we put this in front of a safe audience who can imagine a better future? The real wins come from delivering product earlier that serves as a learning point. The real losses come from building something quick and dirty that should have been better.