[jingleheimer]

I always felt that agile processes were a means to give non-answers to performance measurement in order to allay the consequences of that measurement and allow developers to get on with the business of making software.

How big is the task; 10 story points

How long will that take; depends on our velocity

Can it be done by this date; we're not allowed to plan that far ahead. You can put it in the 'icebox'. We might get to it eventually.

[pmwhite]

Yes, definitely true.

If (1) everyone is highly effective in getting tasks done, and (2) working on tasks that are reasonably well prioritized by both technical risks and business value, why exactly do you need to know more?

There are legitimate reasons that a business may need a date. But making sure people are working harder than hard by beating them over the head with a date coughed out by a gantt chart is not one of the legitimate reasons.