The Three Most Common Excuses

I gently asked Roscoe if he had any insight into why people consistently missed their commitments. Needless to say, he had an opinion on the subject.

"Looks to me like, in the software development business, most commitments are dead the moment they're made. People just don't think enough before they commit. If they understood the consequences of committing to something, they would be a lot more careful. Let me give you some examples.

"One of the three most common excuses is 'I had a lot of unplanned interruptions.' Now whose problem is that? Certainly not mine. I didn't make the commitment. The person who made the commitment should have taken that into account when he made the commitment, or turned away the interruptions when they arrived. Clearly he didn't give high enough priority to the commitment he made to me, because he let other jobs squeeze it out. Whatever happened to the notion of 'a prior commitment'"?

"Wait a minute, Roscoe," I exclaimed. "Stuff happens. If you are digging fencepost holes and it begins to rain, you have to stop. What about that?"

"Well, it does rain," he said. "My point is that you have to take that into account in your estimate. If it rains on average 50 percent of the time, your estimate better not assume it never rains. You can't make that assumption and then complain that it rained on you."

Well, I thought, it does seem that people don't think enough about stuff like that. Many of their commitments are based on scenarios where everything goes perfectly. Not allowing for the normal things that always go wrong is one of the things that get them into trouble and cause them to miss commitments.

"OK, what's number two?" I asked Roscoe.

"Second common excuse: 'The job was harder than I thought it would be.' Once again, whose fault is that? I didn't make the estimate, he did. If he wasn't sure he could get it done, he shouldn't have committed. If he didn't understand the job well enough to make a good estimate, he shouldn't have committed. Getting blindsided midway into the job is just flat-out unprofessional. Just because you made a lousy estimate doesn't get you off the hook. You had volition, but not enough competency."

How often had I heard that one? Usually the poor guy would explain how he worked day and night to deliver, but the job was just much, much harder than he thought it would be. And he expected sympathy. I often found myself feeling bad for the guy who had just let me down. How backwards was that?

"Well, I have to admit," I said, "sometimes people seem to commit based on an idea that they know how to do it. Too often, I guess, they only figure it out once they get into it. Perhaps they should ask for a little more time to study it before they commit."

Roscoe nodded. It was clear that he would rather wait for a better estimate than get a bad commitment. What, I asked, was the third common excuse?

"And last," continued Roscoe, "is the old 'My subcontractor let me down.' In this case, the person who made the commitment farmed out part of the job to a third party, who in turn didn't deliver. Now, is that my problem? Hell no. I didn't do the farming out; in fact, I didn't even know about this third party. Although it may be true that he (the third party) failed on his commitment, that is no concern of mine. My commitment is with the first guy. I have to hold him responsible. End of story."

Well, I had to admit, I'd heard that one, too.