[malux85]

> In their mind, that "I guess 3 months" estimate a developer gave quickly turns into "I can 100% deliver this to you fully tested, with all of the additions you added along the way in 3 months".

This is my biggest trigger, when a vague, hand-wavey estimate is turned into a signed guarantee, then the developer gets disciplined or treated as a problem creator when more detailed information comes in.

I found this was the problem with working at agencies - No matter how warm touchy feely they are, the fact is the agency is economically incentivised to burn out their developers (in the short term, which sadly, is the most frequently perceived time horizon).

This is why I only work at venture funded startups now with a preference for default-alive ones, yes it's a bit chaotic because resources are not infinite everywhere, but it's much better than working at an agency who are just middle-man reselling your time and trying to keep their margins up

[tssva]

Not giving vague hand-wavey estimates seems like a solution to that problem.