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Comment by outworlder | Hacker News Reader

> All I do these days is code for 15+ hours everyday with an impending weight hanging over my head constantly that I'll be made a scapegoat if the project fails.

This is a legitimate question, not a criticism: why do you think that you, specifically, will be the scapegoat?

Is it possible that you can find a way to not work 15 hours straight? Since you know that the project will crash and burn anyway, this effort will be meaningless. Trying to carry the weight of a doomed project by yourself is not a good idea.

Now, if the project is a high-profile one, expect that some management cuts will happen. In some companies, but not all, this also means "pruning" all the reporting tree. Is the company big enough that you could move to another division, or whatever they call it? If so, you should focus on that.

The ship is sinking and all you have is a bucket. Start sending signal flares.

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> This is a legitimate question, not a criticism: why do you think that you, specifically, will be the scapegoat?

Because I am the lead developer on this project and the manager of this project was always unavailable to escalations / concerns. In the end I just think he'd wipe his hands off and say he was never involved in this project ( though he is supposed to be working 50% on this project)

Sounds like a great scapegoat to me! Hope you have all those email threads stored :)

If not -> start producing them.

Oh yes please build a paper trail. This should be your no.1 job starting now.

Doesn't matter what the actual outcome will be, the paper trail is your only defense.

It's worth emphasizing... the paper trail must show you're doing everything you can to warn the company that this project is currently on track to fail, and (as much as you can illuminate it) what the costs to the company will be.

Back up your reasoning as clearly and simply as you can.

From the perspective of your employers: because they're paying your salary (and others as well, including half your boss' salary dedicated to this), for a failed end result -- firing you as the scapegoat doesn't leave them with nothing, it leaves them with far less than nothing; all of that time and salary lost, plus the costs of replacing you (whether because they've fired you, or because they've burned you out entirely). Plus costs to reputation, which harms client relationships and hiring both.

Being able to say "I told you so" later doesn't really help anyone; but if you can suggest a better path (drastically reducing scope, extending or segmenting the delivery timeline, or even canceling the project), then you should be able to get someone to listen.

If your boss really grasps where things are going (and that this isn't just "the usual developer griping"), then he'll get credit as well for saving the situation, and you both benefit.

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