I think these comments come from a very naive, engineering-centric perspective. Good estimates aren't short estimates, nor are they estimates which keep managem

I think these comments come from a very naive, engineering-centric perspective. Good estimates aren't short estimates, nor are they estimates which keep management off your back. Good estimates are accurate estimates because they allow the rest of the organization to properly plan around engineering's deliverables, to properly staff and resource the engineering team, and to manage customer and client expectations. Arbitrary big estimates that are lies constructed to give ourselves buffer time are lazy and lead to mistrust between engineering and the rest of the organization. Even worse in our case (devs for hire), they lead to lost clients and lost revenue. Clear communication around capabilities, expectations, and deliverables has been absolutely essential to our company staying afloat for the past 12 years.