Everyone in software has quietly agreed that launch dates are suggestions. Clients pad their timelines, agencies pad their estimates, and both sides assume the deadline will slip at least once. I’ve never accepted that, and across every project my companies have taken on, we’ve never delivered late.
I recently spoke with The Hear Up about how that record actually gets built, and the answer has very little to do with project management software.
The real work happens before a contract is signed. Most late projects are doomed at the proposal stage: vague scope, unclear goals, or a team without the right experience. I only take on work we can commit to fully and ideas I genuinely believe in. Saying no costs revenue in the short term. Saying yes to the wrong project costs far more, in broken deadlines and a reputation that follows you into every future sales call.
There was a stretch when we were getting far more client applications than we could handle well. I could have accepted everyone and outsourced the overflow for a commission. Instead, I slowed down, focused on the clients we already had, and held off on aggressive hiring. One bad experience can undo years of trust, and I wasn’t willing to bet my name on someone else’s quality. It’s the same reason I keep saying you have to stay small long enough to become big enough.
Golf taught me the rest. On a long course, every decision matters and small mistakes compound. Software works exactly the same way. An ambiguous requirement in week two becomes a rework cycle in week eight. Most late projects aren’t one dramatic failure. They’re dozens of small slips nobody treated as urgent.
That’s why I stay close to how every moving part of my companies fits together. I don’t need to be the best engineer in the room, but I need to know enough to spot an unrealistic estimate before it becomes a missed date. It’s the same discipline we bring to delivery at Alive DevOps, and it’s why I believe the best delegators understand the work first.
None of this means nothing ever goes wrong. Cloud outages happen and client priorities shift. What protects the relationship is being honest about tradeoffs before they turn into surprises.
The article goes deeper into the research on why large IT projects run so far over budget, and what any service business can borrow from our approach.
Read the full article on The Hear Up.
Before you sign your next client, ask whether you can truly deliver on time, and have the courage to walk away when the answer is no.
