Chapter 3Guiding Goes Better “Feature by Feature”

The first thing we know about any project is the deadline—at least it always seems that way. That’s the vertical blue line with the triangle at the bottom.

And what do we want by the deadline? Why, everything, of course. That’s the horizontal line. The star is our plan: have everything by the deadline. No problem!

Somehow it doesn’t turn out that way. We usually wind up shipping less, or later, or both: the red lines with the question marks. Heck, we’re sure to get less than we want. After all, we asked for everything!

We really can’t have it all. Let’s manage that reality, not just let things happen. Let’s steer our project, not just ride it wherever it takes us.

In a recent project ...

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