http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/2005/04/schedule-game-2-90-done.html Management, especially good management, is hard to do. This blog is for people who want to think about how they manage people, projects, and risk. Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:49:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/2005/04/schedule-game-2-90-done.html#comment-107 James Thiele Mon, 16 May 2005 04:21:20 +0000 http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/?p=8164#comment-107 A clasic statement in software development is that the first 80% of the job takes 80% of the time, and the last 20% takes the other 80% of the time. Feel free to use 90% and 10% if you prefer. A clasic statement in software development is that the first 80% of the job takes 80% of the time, and the last 20% takes the other 80% of the time. Feel free to use 90% and 10% if you prefer.

]]> http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/2005/04/schedule-game-2-90-done.html#comment-110 Dave Smith Sun, 08 May 2005 04:08:36 +0000 http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/?p=8164#comment-110 I first heard "90% done" from a manager in the mid 70's about a mainframe integration project that had been 90% done--or at least reported as such--for the past year. Nobody took the estimate seriously by that point, and "90% done" was used a code phrase for "They don't have a clue about where they really are." It wasn't long thereafter that I first learned about Schedule Chicken. I first heard “90% done” from a manager in the mid 70’s about a mainframe integration project that had been 90% done–or at least reported as such–for the past year. Nobody took the estimate seriously by that point, and “90% done” was used a code phrase for “They don’t have a clue about where they really are.” It wasn’t long thereafter that I first learned about Schedule Chicken.

]]> http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/2005/04/schedule-game-2-90-done.html#comment-111 Democritus Wed, 20 Apr 2005 23:16:41 +0000 http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/?p=8164#comment-111 Zeno's Paradox, right? Zeno’s Paradox, right?

]]> http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/2005/04/schedule-game-2-90-done.html#comment-109 Jason Wed, 20 Apr 2005 22:01:23 +0000 http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/?p=8164#comment-109 I bet the 90% game is directly related to the fact that I always underestimate by a factor of 2. I bet the 90% game is directly related to the fact that I always underestimate by a factor of 2.

]]> http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/2005/04/schedule-game-2-90-done.html#comment-108 Ethan Wed, 20 Apr 2005 21:18:42 +0000 http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/?p=8164#comment-108 I believe it was this very blog that also passed along the PM joke about "We're 90% complete, we just need to finish the other 90%." The 90% completion "crawl" as described in this post makes me think of basketball. You have all of this time to play the game, and yet that final minute seems to drag on forever. I wonder if it's because of the tenths of seconds winding down whereas normally the time clock reads MM:SS. Same with the 90% thing. If your %-ile complete tracking system jumps in increments of 10, once you hit 90, there's nowhere to go to show progress without flat-out closing out the project as "complete". I wonder if a better way would be to establish what the criteria is for each block of 10% before advancing the project status to that level. I believe it was this very blog that also passed along the PM joke about “We’re 90% complete, we just need to finish the other 90%.”
The 90% completion “crawl” as described in this post makes me think of basketball. You have all of this time to play the game, and yet that final minute seems to drag on forever. I wonder if it’s because of the tenths of seconds winding down whereas normally the time clock reads MM:SS.
Same with the 90% thing. If your %-ile complete tracking system jumps in increments of 10, once you hit 90, there’s nowhere to go to show progress without flat-out closing out the project as “complete”.
I wonder if a better way would be to establish what the criteria is for each block of 10% before advancing the project status to that level.

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