When I was at Microsoft there was a phenomenon known as "schedule chicken" whereby each team in an interdependent group would report up "no problem totally on s

When I was at Microsoft there was a phenomenon known as "schedule chicken" whereby each team in an interdependent group would report up "no problem totally on schedule" despite being way off in the hopes that some other (perhaps even more off-target) group would admit they needed to slip the date. Then all the other groups could breathe a sigh of relief and say, "We totally could have made it but given that those guys slipped the schedule, we'll use the time just to be extra awesome." Of course the problem is that if everyone plays this game, you end up right before the deadline with lots of groups simultaneously admitting they're nowhere near ready and you have a huge mess on your hands.