The Speed Trap

The Speed Trap

Every organization runs on promises. Deadlines. Commitments. Expectations set and expectations met—or missed.

But here's what rarely gets named: most of these promises are made before anyone actually knows what's being promised.

This isn't a failure of discipline or professionalism. It's a structural feature of how modern organizations work. Budgets get set before scope is clear. Timelines get announced before complexity is understood. Commitments get made in rooms where the people who'll do the work aren't present.

The Pressure to Commit Early

Watch what happens in a typical planning conversation:

"When can we have this done?"

>

"I'm not sure yet—we haven't fully scoped it."

>

"I need a date for the roadmap."

>

"Well... maybe Q2?"

>

"Great, I'll put Q2 on the slide."

What just happened? A tentative guess became a commitment. And now that commitment will shape expectations, allocations, and judgments about whether the team "delivered."

This isn't unusual. This is Tuesday.

Why Speed Gets Rewarded

Organizations don't explicitly reward false precision. But they do reward:

- Clarity — even when clarity isn't yet possible

- Confidence — even when confidence isn't yet warranted

- Speed — especially when slowing down would reveal uncomfortable uncertainty

The person who says "I need more time to give you an honest answer" often loses to the person who says "Sure, we can do that." Until delivery time comes, confidence looks like competence.

The Hidden Cost

The problem isn't just that estimates are wrong. It's that the wrongness compounds silently.

When a commitment is made too early:

- Teams work to the wrong target

- Course corrections feel like failures

- Honest updates feel like excuse-making

- The people closest to reality stop speaking up

Eventually, organizations develop a learned helplessness about planning. "Estimates are always wrong" becomes an accepted truth—rather than a symptom of a broken process.

What If We Named It?

This course starts with a simple premise: we can only navigate well if we're honest about what we're navigating.

That doesn't mean refusing to commit. It means learning to make commitments that:

- Reflect actual uncertainty

- Include conditions and dependencies

- Can be updated without shame

- Preserve trust rather than erode it

The speed trap isn't inevitable. But escaping it requires first seeing it clearly.