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Aggressive scheduling is a tactic. Because no matter what the schedule, human nature dictates that things are likely to slip.
by pbreit 12y ago
Aggressive scheduling is a tactic. Because no matter what the schedule, human nature dictates that things are likely to slip.
- threeseed 12y agoSpin it all you want but a failure to meet schedules isn't really acceptable. You either failed to deliver or failed to manage your project estimation process.
- rdudek 12y agoThere are weather related reasons too.
- avmich 12y agoSounds an awful lot as a managerspeak. Estimations are hard - and in general, it's hard to make predictions, especially for the future, and here we're talking about estimations of a future moment.
- TaylorAlexander 12y agoYou say that, but there aren't a lot of options in the space business, and even SpaceX with delays is better than other available options. They are slowly improving deliveries as they learn to understand a product and business model that no human beings have ever offered. To say they should do all this and never miss a delivery date is to misunderstand the economics of the space flight industry. That said, it will be an exciting time when SpaceX launches are so common and regular as to seem boring.
- tsotha 12y agoIt's hard to know where to place the blame for delays, though. They have to deal with multiple government bureaucracies, bumping, launch windows, and weather. Even if SpaceX executed perfectly every time there would still be schedule slip.
- manicdee 12y agoHow do you schedule a rocket launch when someone else owns the 50-year-old range radar equipment that keeps executing HCF?
- toomuchtodo 12y agoLiterally laughed at "Halt and Catch Fire" acronym.
- dragonwriter 12y ago> How do you schedule a rocket launch when someone else owns the 50-year-old range radar equipment that keeps executing HCF? Recognize that even if you don't own the radar equipment, it is impacting your ability to deliver value, so spend the necessary funds to get them to replace the radar equipment with something that doesn't have that problem.
- ceejayoz 12y ago> Recognize that even if you don't own the radar equipment, it is impacting your ability to deliver value, so spend the necessary funds to get them to replace the radar equipment with something that doesn't have that problem. And then convince the Air Force to certify and let you use your new radar for their payloads.
- dragonwriter 12y ago> And then convince the Air Force to certify and let you use your new radar for their payloads. Well, yeah, which takes more money. I wasn't intending, upthread, to suggest that the route was easy...
- ceejayoz 12y ago> Well, yeah, which takes more money. There may not be any amount of money that'll make the Air Force certify a civilian radar for the purpose.
- obituary_latte 12y ago<super meta> Bummed to see this getting as downvoted as it. Although it may be construed as "managerspeak", it is contributing to the conversation as is evidenced by the several well thought out replies. Perhaps a reminder is warranted: downvote!=disagree. At least that's my understanding (and hope). </super meta>
- pbreit 12y agoI don't think it was mere disagreement. He said deals were not acceptable which is false. And then tried to paint the picture as failure which is far from the truth. The reality is that aggressive scheduling is a reasonable tactic, even knowing that deadlines will almost certainly slip.
- pbreit 12y agoWell, clearly it is entirely acceptable.
- Cthulhu_ 12y agoOnly in life-threatening situations, like idk, rescue missions or critical supply missions. In all other cases: delay is preferable over a botched launch.
- lmm 12y agoEverything has a cost, project estimation included. Maybe the cost/benefit is such that putting effort into more accurate estimation isn't worth it.
- raverbashing 12y agoSure, go ahead and do better than him then.