Hofstadter's law
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Tasks always take longer than expected, even when this law is considered.
- fafaalha
In context
Business and commerce run on estimates, deadlines, and competition. The laws here reflect how projects stretch, customers behave unpredictably, and the best-laid plans still go wrong.
Editorial note
Planning estimates remain vulnerable to hidden work even when teams try to compensate for their usual optimism.
Practical example: A migration estimate includes validation and rollback time, then still reserves contingency for unknown data problems.
Reviewed · Reference overview
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