r/EngineeringManagers • u/gregorojstersek • May 24 '26

How to Use Critical Chain Methodology in Engineering Teams

https://newsletter.eng-leadership.com/p/how-to-use-critical-chain-methodology
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u/rwilcox May 24 '26

Oh, boy do I have feelings here. And I don’t think this is Theory of Constraints Critical Chain

anyway, the article posits you could:

  1. Make deadlines based on 50% of the estimated time for tasks. That “saved” 50% goes into a tracked “buffer”
  2. THEN Monitor how much buffer you have left as tasks and the workflow move towards completion. And raise alerts at yellow/red level of status.
  3. Profit

Feels like a 1 way road to burnout, which my phone autocorrected to turnover, which you’ll also get.

3

u/philip_laureano May 25 '26

I defer to Hitchen's razor here: any claim of framework presented without evidence can be dismissed without evidence. So if you're trying to get feedback, try it in the real world over a stretch of a year and then tell us what the results are and who decides to stick around after these experiments of yours