Ever noticed how a project scoped for 3 months takes 3 months — and a 6-month version of the same project also magically takes 6? That’s not coincidence — that’s physics, LOL. So projects behave like gas: they expand to fill the space you give them (and yes, if you compress gas too much, it blows up. But that’s a different post. 😉).
Most of the times you extend a deadline, you’re not buying quality, you’re just buying comfort.
Few thoughts , feel free to argue with me:
1. Time pressure = focus
Constraints usually sharpen minds. Fixed timeframes force tough calls, clean priorities and real momentum. Give a team too much time, and they’ll spend half of it circling the problem instead of solving it.
2. Comfort is a trap
Deadline extensions feel safe — but they quietly teach teams to tolerate slippage giving the false illusion that “we have time”.
3. The iceberg illusion
Usually – and the more complex your project is, the more true this gets – the problems you see before go-live are just the tip of the iceberg, and I agree, this list gets shorter if we have more time.
But the real trouble — process gaps, user behaviors, integration problems — is hiding below the water and you don’t discover them by waiting. You discover them by shipping.
4. More time ≠ better results
The lie we typically tell ourselves: “We just need a few more weeks to get it right.”
The reality often is that more time means more opinions, more rework, more (unnecessary?) complexity.
All in all, I don’t think you’ll ever have perfect readiness. You just need to be brave enough to get the ball rolling and improve along the way.
Setting the right expectations and building a constructive landing zone sets the tone to deal efficiently with whatever emerges — like a leader, not a victim. To me done and adapted beats perfect and late every time.
Your turn—what’s on your mind?