Chapter 14 of 44

Work That Will Not Arrive

It will not be ready. Every line here describes a problem rather than a failure, which is the only difference that matters when the deadline has already passed.

83 verses

1. 1 It's ninety percent there and the last ten is the hard ten Plausible
2. 2 I've hit something I didn't budget for and it's eaten the buffer Plausible
3. 3 I underestimated it and I'd rather say that now than Friday Plausible
4. 4 The review came back longer than the thing being reviewed Unverifiable
5. 5 I've had three days of interruptions and one day of work Plausible
6. 6 It needs a sign-off and the person who signs off is away Plausible
7. 7 I built it against the old spec and the spec changed on Tuesday Unverifiable
8. 8 The test environment has been down since Monday Plausible
9. 9 I can hand over something rough today or something right on Thursday Plausible
10. 10 I've spent the morning fixing something that broke on its own Unverifiable
11. 11 Two things I was told were independent turned out not to be Unverifiable
12. 12 I've got it working but I don't understand why Unverifiable
13. 13 Somebody merged over the top of it Concerning
14. 14 The library we depend on has changed underneath us Unverifiable
15. 15 I've been given feedback that contradicts the earlier feedback Unverifiable
16. 16 There's a decision outstanding and everybody thinks somebody else is making it Unverifiable
17. 17 The numbers don't add up and I can't hand over numbers that don't add up Unverifiable
18. 18 I found the actual problem this morning and it's older than the ticket Concerning
19. 19 The thing I need is behind a login nobody has Concerning
20. 20 Every fix has uncovered a second thing Unverifiable
21. 21 I've been rewriting the same paragraph since ten Unverifiable
22. 22 I've written it and it's wrong and I know it's wrong Unverifiable
23. 23 The client changed their mind and hasn't told you yet Concerning
24. 24 I'm waiting on a file that keeps arriving corrupted Unverifiable
25. 25 The export produces something slightly different every time Not reassuring
26. 26 I've lost a morning to an error message that isn't documented anywhere Concerning
27. 27 I need access I asked for in June Unverifiable
28. 28 The handover I was promised never happened Concerning
29. 29 I can't reproduce the thing I fixed yesterday Concerning
30. 30 There's a version of this in production nobody can account for Not reassuring
31. 31 I've been told the deadline moved and then told it hadn't Concerning
32. 32 My estimate assumed one person would help and no person has Unverifiable
33. 33 I've done the work but not the part that proves I've done it Unverifiable
34. 34 It passes locally and fails in the place that matters Unverifiable
35. 35 There's a config nobody owns and it's wrong Concerning
36. 36 I need a decision from two people who won't be in the same room Concerning
37. 37 The spec is nine pages and four of them contradict each other Unverifiable
38. 38 I found the old version and the old version was better Concerning
39. 39 I've had to stop and document something so the next person doesn't lose a week Unverifiable
40. 40 The whole thing rests on an assumption nobody wrote down Concerning
41. 41 I've been asked to explain the delay and the explaining is now the delay Not reassuring
42. 42 The deadline was set by somebody who's since left Unverifiable
43. 43 It'll be done by Monday and I'd rather promise Monday than miss Friday Plausible
44. 44 I stopped because carrying on would have made it worse Unverifiable
45. 45 The file I've been working in was a copy Concerning
46. 46 My work from yesterday is not where I left it Not reassuring
47. 47 I've been given the wrong dataset and I've built on it Concerning
48. 48 Somebody has renamed everything and nothing resolves Concerning
49. 49 There's an approval chain and I'm at the start of it Unverifiable
50. 50 I've been in the wrong document all week Concerning
51. 51 It'll take an hour once one thing is answered, and the thing isn't answered Unverifiable
52. 52 I have the answer but not permission to use it Concerning
53. 53 Somebody has scheduled a demo of a thing that isn't built Concerning
54. 54 I've been told to stop and also to finish Concerning
55. 55 The requirements arrived after the deadline was set Unverifiable
56. 56 I've been pulled onto something urgent and this is now the other thing Unverifiable
57. 57 My notes from the kickoff describe a different project Not reassuring
58. 58 There's a comment on it from three years ago that says do not touch Not reassuring
59. 59 I've reached the part I was dreading and it's as bad as I thought Unverifiable
60. 60 I need to speak to somebody who only works Tuesdays Concerning
61. 61 The last person to touch this left a note apologizing Not reassuring
62. 62 I've got it to a state I'm not willing to show anybody Unverifiable
63. 63 The last ten percent has taken longer than the first ninety Plausible
64. 64 I've been optimizing something that didn't need optimizing Unverifiable
65. 65 I've been waiting on a decision that was made and not communicated Concerning
66. 66 Two people have given me opposite instructions in writing Concerning
67. 67 I've built the thing that was asked for and it isn't the thing that's wanted Concerning
68. 68 I found a problem yesterday that means redoing Monday and Tuesday Unverifiable
69. 69 I've been in a rabbit hole since eleven and I'm not out yet Concerning
70. 70 The thing that was supposed to be simple has turned out not to be Unverifiable
71. 71 I've had to stop and learn something before I could carry on Unverifiable
72. 72 I've fixed it and the fix has broken something older Concerning
73. 73 I can't test it because the thing that tests it is also broken Unverifiable
74. 74 I've been given more work while being asked about this work Unverifiable
75. 75 The reference material I was given is out of date Unverifiable
76. 76 Somebody has been working on the same thing separately Concerning
77. 77 I've been asked to include something that changes the shape of it Unverifiable
78. 78 There's a number in this that I can't get anybody to confirm Concerning
79. 79 I've written it three ways and I don't like any of the three Concerning
80. 80 The version I want to send is on a machine that won't turn on Concerning
81. 81 I've realized what it should have been and it's too late to be that Concerning
82. 82 I keep getting interrupted by people asking whether it's done Concerning
83. 83 I've spent the day on something that was already done Concerning