> Software does not have to be wildly unpredictable if you do good estimation work up front. You also need someone with 1) strong technical and/or product skil

> Software does not have to be wildly unpredictable if you do good estimation work up front. You also need someone with 1) strong technical and/or product skills, 2) good communication skills and decisiveness, and 3) explicit executive authority. That's the only way to avoid scope creep and bikeshedding. When you started working on a project without knowing what you're building, or end up delivering a very different project than what was originally planned, it's hard to even say "that project was late." No it wasn't: you just never built whatever you had promised to build by the original deadline.