Accountability Manifesto

Creating software is hard. The management of expectations in relation to the creation of software is even harder. Here's why:

 

• We are typically creating and connecting things in ways that have probably never been created or connected before.

• New requirements emerge as a result of learning.

• Old requirements change as a result of learning.

• We have multiple clients with multiple projects, any of which may experience a catastrophic event at any time.

• We require hardware, infrastructure, and tools to perform our jobs, all of which may inexplicably stop working.

• Our work is performed by humans that get sick and have unforeseen life events they need to manage.

    

The point all of this leads up to is that, unless we project our estimated completion dates unrealistically far into the future, we can never speak with absolute certainty about them. Moreover, the larger the deliverable, the less likely the estimate is to be accurate. What we can do with certainty is the one thing that is completely under our control: be accountable. What we can do is give our word that the moment something occurs that may affect the schedule, we will start the conversation immediately so we can all reset expectations and plan for any possible impact. ​