> Regardless of what you think your process is, somewhere near the top of the leadership pyramid, it all boils down to a customer promise upon which hinges your organization's reputation.
First, I see the same sort of dysfunctions driven by The Date™ even when no customer promise is involved. Even when no customers are involved.
Second, if honoring customer promises were the number one priority, organizations wouldn't make them so casually and without figuring out what is possible.
Third, they would use management approaches that make it maximally likely to really hit customer promises, not just in terms of date but features and quality. If I have a date that really matters, I'll aim for first MVP by 50% of the schedule. Then we use customer feedback to iteratively improve every week, so at the deadline we have something polished and proven to satisfy.
Fourth, they'd try to hit dates in ways that build capacity to make good on future promises. Instead, the panics I see around The Date™ mean technical debt, strained processes, and burnt-out staff, all of which diminish odds of satisfying promises in the future.