[35fbe7d3d5b9]

http://www.art.net/~hopkins/Don/unix-haters/tirix/embarrassi...

> I wrote a note in sgi.bad-attitude about the "optimist effect", which I believe is mostly true. In condensed form:

> Optimists tend to be promoted, so the higher up in the organization you are, the more optimistic you tend to be. If one manager says "I can do that in 4 months", and another only promises it in 6 months, the 4 month guy gets the job. When the software is 4 months late, the overall system complexity makes it easy to assign blame elsewhere, so there's no way to judge mis-management when it's time for promotions.

> To look good to their boss, most people tend to put a positive spin on their reports. With many levels of management and increasing optimism all the way up, the information reaching the VPs is very filtered, and always filtered positively.