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Comment by thathonkey | Hacker News Reader

That's why other industries don't do "crunch mode." Can you imagine:

"We're really behind on building this bridge" "CRUNCH MODE!"

The usual solution in bridge building is: "MORE PEOPLE!" ... but that doesn't work in software (because of training time, less productivity in the meantime and so on, you know the drill), so we don't have that option. The best idea would be to accept that it will take longer, but that fails flat for political reasons. Bad situation.

I got the impression, that most people are aware, that there is only a finished software or a date, even if they are non-technical.

They got something, even if it's bug-ridden, which they can show and sell someone. And the fixes can be made between the "finish date" and the "first real use". The software that is ready after the finish date just has to work for presentations.

They do. Note the 2nd and 3rd bullets on this announcement: http://www.spanishfork.org/newsevents/events/view.php?id=520

other industries do crunch mode, just in different ways.

tax accountants crunch 3 months a year for 12+ hours a day. it's as predictable as clockwork.

construction crunches by adding 2nd and 3rd shifts to a project to get it done quicker.

investment bankers crunch their entire careers, basically.

political teams crunch during elections.

media crunches during newsworthy events or to wrap a project.

we're not that unique. "the grass is always greener..."

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