Yes, I call it the 'conspiracy of optimism'. The bidder wants to win the business and implement the project, the customer-user wants the capability provided by

Yes, I call it the 'conspiracy of optimism'. The bidder wants to win the business and implement the project, the customer-user wants the capability provided by the project, so they conspire against the customer-payer. Realistic proposals fail. An under-resourced under-priced and short-scheduled proposal is functionally approved by the customer-user, then signed-off as the cheapest/shortest option by the customer-payer. The real negotiation is in the T&Cs for change management, scope creep, responsibilities for delays and the structure of payment according to milestones.