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Comment by jlarocco | Hacker News Reader

That's a toxic attitude.

The software is being written for the customer and/or management, and they're paying for it. They have a legitimate right to know why the estimate is what it is, and to understand what work is going to be done. If they want to exclude parts of it because they don't see the value, then that's up to them because they get what they pay for.

If you can't explain why it's a bad idea to cut certain parts out, or why certain things take the time that they do, then it's a failure on your part as the engineer, and not theirs.

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But sometimes I don't know why it's a bad idea ahead of time! That doesn't mean I'm wrong -- often time reveals what it was I was subconsciously worried about.

That's what expertise is sometimes like: an accurate gut feeling, impossible to articulate clearly.

In that case one must be assertive. Speaking this way does not come naturally especially to engineers.

You don't have to articulate it clearly, you don't have to know why you are making the estimate you are making. It's ok for management to push, in fact it is their job.

I suggest this book. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004IK8Q22

I agree, sometimes it is just a gut feeling, but a lot of times expertise means knowing where the gut feeling comes from and being able to explain it.

If nothing else, management will be more trusting in those situations if you give good and accurate estimates the rest of the time and are able to justify them.

Management, yes. Customers, no. Customers should have no expectation that they can reach into another company and manage teams and individuals like they're employees. Management should step in and make the line clear. Not just because it's counter-productive, but because it's exactly the sort of thing that upsets talented senior staff who rightly believe they deserve more respect than to be told how to do their job by someone that knows nothing about them.

There's a difference between asking an expert for their opinion and commensurate respect for the effort it takes to provide it, and demeaning an expert because you dont like their answer. I sense that OP was indicating that they felt undermined and attacked for their honest take. Being attacked for your best effort is also toxic

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