Gregor OjstersekFounder & Author, Engineering Leadership newsletter

It’s Not The End of the World if a Task Takes More Time Than it’s Estimated

6 Apr 2025 · 0 min

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In this concise monologue, the speaker reflects on repeated project estimation failures and distills three core lessons. First, missing an estimate isn’t catastrophic if the delay is justified and the overall project remains on track; tasks naturally vary in duration and perfect estimation is unattainable. Second, experience gradually improves estimation accuracy, though perfection remains elusive. Third, adopting a “hero” mindset—pushing to meet every deadline at personal cost—may provide short‑term gratification but ultimately creates a liability for the team because such unsustainable effort cannot be maintained long‑term. The speaker advocates realistic expectations, continuous learning, and sustainable teamwork over heroic overwork.

After many failures, I learned that it's not the end of the world if something takes more time than it's actually estimated, as long as there are valid reasons for it and the overall project is still on track. Some tasks may take longer, some tasks will take less time. You get better at it, but you'll never be perfect. Trying to be the hero may give you some short-term satisfaction, but you may actually become a big liability to the team because it's not something you can sustain long-term.