This quote hits close to home: “Basically at the onset of a project I think the higher ups prefer a dollar amount and schedule that doesn’t shock the public.”

This quote hits close to home: “Basically at the onset of a project I think the higher ups prefer a dollar amount and schedule that doesn’t shock the public.” When the people who are not knowledgeable about the actual details of the project require their expectations to be met, other expectations of theirs will not be met (the classic "fast, cheap, or good, choose two" joke). I like to say to people making unreasonable demands "Do you want to be disappointed now, or later?"