Top Software developers mistakes

 Make estimates in the "Zone of Improbability"

Here it is necessary to clarify what is meant by the zone of improbability. For an arbitrary project, let's imagine the following dialogue (approx. greatly abbreviated):

— Will 12 developers be able to complete the Project in 10 months?

“Yes, maybe,” we answer.

— And 15 developers in 8 months?

“Well, yes,” we answer, “more likely yes than no.”

— And 30 for 4?

- Hardly - it becomes obvious that 30 people, most likely, will not be able to work together in such a short time.

— 60 in 2 months?

- Well, this is already funny!, - you will answer ...

— And 120 developers in 1 month?

- Well, it's not funny at all. Bullying is just...

It can be seen from this dialogue that the “compression” of deadlines for a given labor intensity cannot occur indefinitely - there is a limit. So the idea of this paragraph is not to make estimates beyond this limit. Such estimates cannot be consistent. The compression limit, according to Steve, is somewhere around 25% of the nominal ratings.