[joeyrosztoczy1]

Estimates or scientifically wild ** guesses (SWAGs) can be an incredible feedback loop to peers, a team, or an organization.

For peers, far apart estimates might indicate differences in understanding of the problem/solution.

For a team, if they are wildly diverging or low-certainty it can indicate the right next step is experimentation or exploration, rather than committing on delivering something to production.

For an organization, they can provide a barometer for investment decisions, such as what the appetite to solve a given problem space is, or how to evaluate sunken costs.

I particularly like a progressive framework on estimates, i.e. 10% certainty when a project is just taking shape, 20% when scope gets tightened up, 50%+ after spikes / rfc drafting / design etc.

Often they are used for rote accountability, which can be detrimental and/or naive - they should be a stake in the ground to have discussions around risks, assumptions, and trade-offs!