Jinn of Quality and Risk

It was early June, the project was in trouble. The project leads had previously cut down the resource plan, compressed the schedule, ignored testing, and forgotten about business processes. Most of the "team" (more than one hundred people) was unaware of this. But by Jove, these lowly engineers, graphic designers, and yes, even the project managers, would work day and night, 7 days a week, to complete the project by the promised date, in August. Thus, the "team" was told that all they needed to do was to work a little harder for two months and all would be swell. There was no pay for overtime, according to their employment contracts. But the company gladly paid for them to go to a bar and get collectively drunk once a month.

So, the client was told that the team would work a bit harder and longer hours, and all would be finished in the predicted time, despite having to add major pieces of design and code (an extra 50%), subcontractors, and business processes — none of which had been planned for. They tried, and tried, and many burnt out. Some resigned. They didn't reach the absurd deadline, and the client was furious. The project leads held meetings and told the team they should just get on with it and be done as soon as possible, so they kept working, harder and harder, until they released an incomplete and buggy solution by the end of the year; they had even started system testing while key modules were crashing or incomplete. The client was not happy, the team was burnt out, and the company lost money.

Did anyone speak up and denounce the original absurdities? Yes. They were removed from the project, or told to keep quiet. What about the ones who didn't speak up, maybe because they believed in the lies the project leadership was feeding them, those who worked really hard? The company was losing money, and someone had to be laid off. On the other hand, the project leads repeatedly claimed the project was a major achievement, and got promotions.