All late projects are the same (2011) [pdf]
One perspective is that negotiation of schedule and resources is often nothing resembling estimation but is a political game. Ed Yourdon&#x27;s book &quot;Death March&quot; has a chapter about Negotiation .<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com&#x2F;images&#x2F;013143635X&#x2F;samplechapter&#x2F;013143635X_ch03.pdf" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com&#x2F;images&#x2F;013143635X&#x2F;samplechapt...</a><p>There&#x27;s a list of &quot;negotiation games&quot; that, sadly, you&#x27;ll probably recognise.  And a bit of more practical advice:<p><pre><code>  &gt;&gt; The problem I have with “estimate” is that I understand
  &gt;&gt; the word to mean, “best assessment knowing what is known
  &gt;&gt; at this moment and what can reasonably be predicted about
  &gt;&gt; the future.” From experience, what I have seen happen is
  &gt;&gt; that once an estimate is published,it becomes a rock 
  &gt;&gt; solid commitment representing the maximum amount of
  &gt;&gt; resources needed to accomplish the project phase or the
  &gt;&gt; entire project.

  &gt; Unfortunately, there’s an uglier aspect of the political
  &gt; negotiation when you introduce the plus-or-minus
  &gt; qualifier into your estimate: You’ll be accused of
  &gt; uncertainty, wishy-washiness, weakness, or even
  &gt; incompetence. [...] What senior management really wants 
  &gt; is a firm commitment — a promise that the project will
  &gt; be finished on a certain deadline, with a budget of a 
  &gt; certain number of dollars, and a staff of a certain size.
  &gt; This gives them the enormous luxury of (a) no longer
  &gt; having to worry about the problem for the duration of the
  &gt; project and (b) having a convenient scapegoat to blame if
  &gt; the promise is broken.

  &gt; Jim McCarthy, in his excellent book, Dynamics of Software
  &gt; Development, suggests that the project manager needs to
  &gt; confront this head-on and persuade the customers and&#x2F;or
  &gt; senior management that they need to share some of the
  &gt; burden of uncertainty [around schedule, cost, resourcing]
  &gt; that the entire project team will be living with on a
  &gt; day-to-day basis. Thus, the project manager effectively
  &gt; says to the customer or the senior management group,
  &gt; “Look, I don’t know precisely when this project will
  &gt; finish — but since I’m the project manager, I’m far more
  &gt; likely than anyone else in the organization to figure it
  &gt; out as soon as it can be figured out. I promise you that
  &gt; once I know, I’ll tell you right away.”

  &gt; Only a manager with a lot of self-confidence, and the
  &gt; ability to walk away from the assignment, has the
  &gt; chutzpah to say something like this in the politically
  &gt; charged atmosphere of a death march project. The time to
  &gt; say it is at the beginning of the project; after all, if
  &gt; the customer and senior management do not respect your
  &gt; ability as a project manager, and if they don’t realize
  &gt; that you do have a better chance of knowing when the
  &gt; project will finish than anyone else, then why are they
  &gt; putting you in charge of the project in the first place?
  &gt; Are you being set up as a scapegoat? Are you going to
  &gt; be a “puppet manager,” with all the decisions being
  &gt; made by other political manipulators in the
  &gt; organization? If so, now is the time to get out!

  &gt; Similarly, if you’re a lowly programmer on the project
  &gt; team and you see political games like this, it may be a
  &gt; strong indication that your project manager (a) doesn’t
  &gt; have the confidence to believe in any estimate that he
  &gt; puts forth, (b) doesn’t have the backbone to stand up
  &gt; for himself and for the project team, and&#x2F;or (c) has
  &gt; gotten himself into a political situation where all the
  &gt; key decisions will be made by people who are not
  &gt; directly involved in the project. Again, this is a
  &gt; strong indication that the project is doomed; and
  &gt; before you get too deeply involved, it might be a
  &gt; better idea to seek greener pastures.
</code></pre>
Refusing to be pressured into emitting on-the-spot &quot;estimates&quot; that will be regarded as commitments is a useful life skill. Teach your new hires: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.dadhacker.com&#x2F;blog&#x2F;?p=2267" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.dadhacker.com&#x2F;blog&#x2F;?p=2267</a>