This is why middle management exists -- to insulate working groups from hard-and-fast commitments and timelines. They do this by using their professional experi

This is why middle management exists -- to insulate working groups from hard-and-fast commitments and timelines. They do this by using their professional experience and understanding of the capability of their teams to know what overall product to promise under what kind of timeline. I don't know about many companies with 50 or more people where the CEO "does agile" personally, for instance.