Here is the full text:<p>1/ The key to finishing projects on time is to start every single step as late as possible (exactly the opposite of what most PMs do)<p>2/ First, because only progress on the critical path matters for final delivery, therefore all other starts are distractions<p>3/ It would be like spending hrs on a huge dinner prep by making all the side dishes, only to realize u forgot to pre-heat oven<p>4/ Second, starting early doesn't mean you'll finish early. Parkinson's Law: the task simply expands to fill the extra space<p>5/ Third, even if u do finish a step early, that gain will be wasted: next person won't be ready<p>6/ Starting a step early actually has all sorts of negat conseq, which is why procrastination is evolutionarily & logically a good strategy<p>7/ Starting early increases likelihood u don't have all info and prereqs, making rework likely (i.e. estimate blowout)<p>8/ Starting early increases the surface area for interruption attacks (internal & external), since u "have plenty of time"<p>9/ Starting early explodes the amt of lead time not spent actually working (i.e. Touch time)<p>10/ 70-99% of task lead time is waiting time, queueing, pending confirmation, waiting on approval, learning, rampup, setup, etc<p>11/ Ppl complain about estimation being hard, but it's not "uncertainty". It's them starting things early due to supposed uncertainty!<p>12/ But maybe the worst effect of starting early is that ppl start late anyway. Who actually begins a step before they have to?<p>13/ So you get worst of both worlds: a LONG plan with huge lead times, which are ignored as ppl do everything last minute. Vicious cycle<p>14/Last reason early starts suck, is they give illusion of safety. But Murphy doesn't hit everywhere evenly, he concentrates chaos at 1 spot<p>15/ Irony is this is self-reinforcing: did you hit the deadline because u executed well, or because you had excessive safety (100-200%)?<p>16/ So person who adds the most excessive safety is rewarded for "hitting their estimate," as if estimating and executing are independent<p>17/ Late starts fix all this: when the step is "released," they have barely enough time to finish if they go at full speed<p>18/ This pressure helps them focus, get into flow, ignore distractions/interruptions, optimize for 1 thing, get it done!<p>19/ Procrastination isn't an issue, because they're already behind, since u also cut their estimated lead time in half (oops!)<p>20/ If they finish on time it's actually a cause for celebration, and the next person can actually take advantage of the time gained<p>21/ The PM knows what to focus on, since u start with few steps (critical path ones) and only gradually begin new ones as late as possible<p>22/ Another benefit: once crit path person passes hot potato, they're free! U don't assign them new work, that would be punishing perform.<p>23/ Late starts also help with resource contentions (the same person doing 2 steps), esp important in cross-funct creative teams<p>24/ Instead of "start everything NOW!" You're saying "U must not start anything until the last poss moment. Focus on the current task!"<p>25/ This helps ppl not multitask, since they only have one task at any given time, and it's late!<p>26/ Ppl are generally happier: focus + flow + roadrunner mode (only 2 speeds, 100% & 0%) + fast results = happiness for both emp & co<p>27/ ANOTHER benefit of late starts: u have much better estimation data, since lead time now more closely approximates touch time<p>28/ 3 main results of all this: throughout (output x sales) explodes, lead time per project plummets, and huge excess capacity is revealed<p>29/ U read that right: earlier u start steps, the later u deliver projects, the more excess capacity you're likely to have<p>30/ Why? Because the almost universal response to late projects is "we need more capacity!" False. U need to use what u have<p>31/ The busier everyone in your co seems to be, the more confident I am that you have tremendous, double-digit excess capacity<p>32/ To add insult to injury, emps in such companies also say they're "too busy to invest in productivity." Speed up the hamster wheel!<p>33/ BUT to use late starts, u also need buffers. Bec some steps do in fact go late, just not as many and not as late as u think<p>34/ And I don't mean buffers as a general concept, u need very precisely placed and sized buffers divided into zones, updated daily<p>35/ There is a buffer for every purpose: project buffers, feeding buffers, iteration buffers, bottleneck buffers. Gotta know which 1 to use<p>36/ The PM's job becomes easy: just watch the buffer penetrations. No need to do anything until it gets to Zone 3 or 2, all else is noise<p>37/ If u want to know where all this comes from, Critical Chain Project Mgmt: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_chain_project_management" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_chain_project_managem...</a>