• quixotic120@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    executives call a variation this “optimization”. oh it took you four weeks instead of five? do it in four next time. give me a 300,000 dollar bonus please

    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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      1 month ago

      As a software engineer, the trick is to never tell them it takes four weeks, you promise 5 weeks, procrastinate for 4, and do it in 2, blaming the extra on software being hard. Most execs understand that, and only being a week late is pretty good (my boss adds 2 weeks to all my estimates for his own reporting).

      It’s a subtle art that most contractors have perfected. Some even deliver on-time, but that’s dangerous because the exec might catch on (software is never on-time).