LibraryScenariosWhen teams avoid uncertainty by making false commitments
Scenario

When teams avoid uncertainty by making false commitments

Our engineering team has gotten really good at estimating work when it's familiar but when we hit something novel everyone just says 'two weeks' because no one wants to look stupid by asking questions or admitting they don't know something. We're shipping late constantly and in our retrospectives everyone talks about 'external blockers' instead of the fact that we're all just guessing and hoping.

Aurelius
Online
The coach is replying

More people experience this than they realize.

What we've seen

Your team keeps pretending to know how long things take, and you keep shipping late because of it.

Ideas that help explain it
Worth thinking about

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If this sounds familiar, the Library can help you find the bigger picture.