Saying no in writing
Unit 7 of 8 · Lesson 2 of 3Index
Dev reads the spec and does the maths: two months. You have three weeks, and you do not know enough to argue with his estimate.
Decide the appetite, then design to fit
- 01Two months against three weeks
Two months against three weeks
Arguing with Dev's estimate goes nowhere. He knows the code. You know what the problem is worth.
- 02Three weeks is the appetite
Three weeks is the appetite
The time is fixed and the scope is what moves. Design something that fits inside the box.
- 03Every cut has a reason
Every cut has a reason
Cut what can wait, and write one line on why people will survive without it for now.
- 04What this does not include
What this does not include
The most important section. Without it, everything you cut is back in scope by Wednesday.
How Basecamp handled it
Doing it with AI, and where it breaks
Have a model play the engineering lead. Argue until you find the cut that gets the work inside your appetite without making it pointless.
The simulated engineer agrees too fast. Tell it to hold its estimate unless you remove real scope.
You are the engineering lead and your estimate for this spec is two months [paste the spec]. I have three weeks. Hold your estimate unless I remove actual scope. For each cut I propose, tell me how many days it saves and what breaks for users.
Build it
A version one that fits the appetite, with three cuts, the reason each is survivable, and a no go list.
The worked solution
Stuck, or want to compare?
There is a worked solution. Try the build first. Reading it before you have attempted anything is the fastest way to learn nothing.
Checkpoint
If you did the build, these take two minutes. If you cannot answer one of them, that is the part to go back to.
Moving on marks this lesson complete. Finish the build first, it is the part that counts.