Paul Glen: Truth and project time estimates

Geeks hate this question. It's nearly impossible to answer. Our experience has shown us that no one can really know when a project will be done until it's done.

But non-geeks need to know. They have to plan for everything from revenue to hiring to marketing to production, and the timing of the availability of the technology is a critical constraint.

Here's how these things usually go: In a meeting, a business partner asks, "When will this be done?" You know that the real and true answer, "That's impossible to say," isn't going to fly. So you describe a detailed series of scenarios, each with a different delivery date. Each represents a different resolution of one of the major external risks identified for the project. For example, you might say, "Well, if we can get the vendor contract signed by the end of the month, then it should be done by the end of July."

As you work your way through the variables, you can't help but feel rather virtuous. Having been asked a question with an unknowable answer, you've provided the best information you have. The business partner now knows almost as much as you do about the likely trajectory of this project.

But does she see it that way? She does not. To her, you're either evasive or incompetent. She has asked you what she considers to be a simple question about a matter of vital importance, and you've responded with one "if-then" statement after another. She's thinking either that you know the answer and won't give it, because you don't want to be held accountable, or that you just don't know the answer, and therefore you must not be very good at your job.

There are two reasons that we find it hard to answer this question: One that's rational, and a more powerful one that's emotional. The rational reason is that technology projects are so complicated that it's impossible to give a reliable answer.

The emotional and more important reason is that we hate to lie. Geeks are devoted to Truth, with a capital T. We have a deep and abiding faith in the existence of objective reality. To make a statement that we don't absolutely know to be true feels like lying, and lying is a sin against Truth. There are few things more odious to a geek than lying.

So when they ask us when something will be done and the answer isn't knowable, it feels like an invitation to lie -- a demand to perform an immoral act that violates one of our most fundamental principles.

We need a better answer. It can't be the plain and simple "July 30" that our business partners might want to hear, but clearly, the give-them-all-the-details approach doesn't work for them.

Here's what has worked for me. I explain that there are three types of dates I could give: a target, an estimate and a promise. The target is a date that we all wish to hit given the business situation. The estimate is my best guess given a reasonable amount of analysis. And the promise is a date that you personally are committed to meeting and that you have complete confidence in, even given all manner of dependencies, risks and unforeseen complications.

The next time you get that deer-in-the-headlights feeling when someone asks you when something will be done, steer the conversation toward targets, estimates and promises. By clarifying the meaning of the date that you are discussing, you can build a mutual commitment with your business partners that serves both your needs.

Paul Glen, CEO of Leading Geeks, is devoted to clarifying the murky world of human emotion for people who gravitate toward concrete thinking. His newest book is 8 Steps to Restoring Client Trust: A Professionals Guide to Managing Client Conflict. You can contact him at [e-mail].