The Early Warning Report™
Week # 44 | An example of Unrealistic Constraints
This week, we examine Unrealistic Constraints, one of the underlying causes of project failure explored in my book, Stop Project Killers. There are several ways this problem can show up in a project. Here's one warning sign to watch for...
EARLY WARNING SIGN
A delivery date is announced before the team has validated the work required to achieve it.
One of the earliest indicators of unrealistic constraints is when the project schedule becomes a commitment before the project itself is fully understood. Requirements are still emerging, dependencies are being identified, and technical complexity has yet to be assessed, yet the completion date is already fixed. Experienced leaders recognize that the date itself is not the warning sign—the sequence is. When commitments precede understanding, the project begins with assumptions instead of evidence.
WHAT IT USUALLY MEANS
The project's constraints have been driven by expectation rather than feasibility.
This pattern often indicates that the timeline was established to satisfy a business objective, external event, or leadership expectation before sufficient analysis was completed. As a result, planning shifts from determining what the work requires to finding ways to make the predetermined date appear achievable. The warning sign is not the deadline itself—it is an indicator that feasibility may never have been validated.
WHY IT MATTERS
Projects that begin with unrealistic schedules often appear healthy until reality catches up.
When the baseline is built on untested assumptions, teams frequently compensate by compressing activities, reducing contingency, and relying on optimistic resource availability. Progress may look acceptable during the early stages, but as complexity becomes visible, schedule pressure increases, quality begins to erode, and confidence in the plan declines. By the time delivery problems are widely recognized, meaningful recovery options may be limited because the original commitment has become difficult to change.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU SEE THIS WARNING
Validate whether the committed date is supported by evidence rather than assumptions.
Conduct a focused feasibility review of the current schedule by confirming that key requirements, major dependencies, technical complexity, and critical resource availability have been assessed. If the schedule still depends primarily on best-case assumptions, document the gaps and present leaders with a fact-based view of what remains unknown before additional commitments are made.
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REFLECTION
If someone asked today why your project's delivery date is achievable, would the answer be based on validated evidence or on assumptions that have yet to be tested?
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Until next week, keep watching for the warning signs.
— Andrew J Putnam, Author of Stop Project Killers