Never Give a Deadline for Work You Don’t Understand

Your manager asks for a deadline, but you don’t even understand the problem yet.
So you say “two weeks.”
And that single sentence quietly sets you up to fail.

In this video, I explain why giving a deadline for work you don’t understand is one of the fastest ways developers burn out, lose trust, and derail their careers—and exactly what to say instead.

This isn’t about being difficult.
It’s about being professional.

You’ll learn:
• Why “two weeks” is a lie developers are trained to tell
• Why single-date estimates almost always fail
• How to give ranges without losing credibility
• The exact scripts senior engineers use to push back
• How to reframe vague requests into real problems
• Why bad estimates cost businesses money, trust, and people

If you’re a developer, tech lead, or engineer being pushed for timelines without clarity, this is a survival skill, not a soft skill.

Stop making people comfortable with lies.
Start protecting your career with the truth.

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Apply only if you’ve stopped blaming and started executing.

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Chapters :
0:00 Why “Two Weeks” Is the Most Dangerous Lie
0:32 How Developers Get Set Up to Fail
1:12 Why Single Dates Always Break
1:49 The Rule: Give Ranges, Not Deadlines
2:30 What to Say When They Push Back
3:14 The Real Cost of Bad Estimates
3:54 The Professional Way to Handle Timelines


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#CTOMindset