Ten Project Haiku

by

Ten separate haiku contemplating the lives of projects and of the people who work on them.

I

Our project was late,
    so we added more people.
The problem got worse.
II

When requirements changed,
    the schedule did not — were we
headed for trouble?
III

We were doing fine,
    'til they reduced the budget.
Now we're overspent.
IV

We think about risks.
    We have contingency plans.
Oops…but not for that.
V

I gave estimates.
    They cut all of them in half.
Next time I'll pad them.
VI

We can't get it right
    and still come in on schedule.
Why can't we do both?
VII

We hired consultants
    who told us how to fix things.
They don't understand.
VIII

There is no more time,
    but the work is unfinished.
Take more time from Test.
IX

The module failed Test,
    so first we changed all the Tests.
Now the requirements.
X

If a project fails
    but we keep working on it,
Has it really failed?
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