Estimates: Necessary or Telltale?

Exploring when it’s essential to seek estimates and when it might signal deeper issues within project management.

Prompted and edited by the author.

Imagine deciding on a kitchen renovation and being faced with two vastly different price quotes for the same layout. This situation mirrors the complex world of software development estimates, where the line between necessary foresight and needless guesswork often blurs.

I must confess that this is the third time I’ve started writing this article. The reason is that often, despite having a clear idea of what I want to write about, as I write I discover new concepts and new ways of seeing the subject I’m discussing. And that’s good. But this time it has been different, it has been massive, and the result would be too long and diffuse. Therefore, I have decided to cut down and focus on the most important point.

This article originated from a previous one, in which I explained that in software development, asking for estimates is a telltale sign.

Asking for Estimates: The Telltale Sign of Ineffective Software Development Practices