The Deadline
a novel about project management
by Tom DeMarco · first published 1997
67% recommend22% neutral11% critical
Why HN recommends it
A novel about software project management that teaches its lessons through an accessible story. It is approachable and useful for thinking about process, agenda discipline and delivery.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2010–2025Death by Meeting
Patrick Lencioni
Recommended by 6 · mentioned by 96 recommend · 9 mention6 recommend · 96 recommend
2011–2024Critical Chain
Eliyahu M. Goldratt
Recommended by 11 · mentioned by 2411 recommend · 24 mention11 recommend · 2411 recommend
2008–2026Slack
Tom DeMarco
Recommended by 24 · mentioned by 4024 recommend · 40 mention24 recommend · 4024 recommend
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Patrick Lencioni
Recommended by 44 · mentioned by 5444 recommend · 54 mention44 recommend · 5444 recommend
2013–2026The Phoenix Project
Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, George Spafford
Recommended by 166 · mentioned by 270166 recommend · 270 mention166 recommend · 270166 recommend
2008–2026Systemantics
John Gall
Recommended by 45 · mentioned by 7545 recommend · 75 mention45 recommend · 7545 recommend
The psychology of computer programming
Gerald M. Weinberg
Recommended by 44 · mentioned by 6544 recommend · 65 mention44 recommend · 6544 recommend
2007–2026Peopleware
Tom DeMarco, Timothy Lister
Recommended by 276 · mentioned by 415276 recommend · 415 mention276 recommend · 415276 recommend
The Deadline by Tom DeMarco jPod (not sure, too long ago that I read it)
on “Ask HN: Fictional books related to startups?” ↗…meeting proceeds according to the rules and doesn't stray from the agenda. This often means not contributing. A key reason to stick to the agenda no matter what is given in Tom DeMarco's amusing novel The Deadline. If you don't stick to the agenda but still make binding decisions, then everyone has to attend every meeting to guard against the possibility that a decision affecting them will be made in their absence.…
on “A Simple Rule to Eliminate Useless Meetings” ↗Ship It, and all the other books in that series from Pragmatic Press. Code Complete and Rapid Code by McConnell. The Deadline by DeMarco. Agile Software Development with Scrum by Schwaber. Peopleware by DeMarco. Slack by DeMarco. Anything by Ed Yourdon.
on “Ask HN: Book on organizing engineering team / process?” ↗I'm a big fan of DeMarco's The Deadline: A Novel About Project Management. It's very accessible and covers many important issues.
on “Ask HN: Good Books for IT Project Management?” ↗So many good book recommendations here, but no one has mentioned Tom DeMarco's The Deadline: https://books.google.com/books?id=5_kJAQAAMAAJ&printsec=fron... In style and content, it's a bit like an older version of "The Phoenix Project" that was focused on delivering packaged software, and…
on “Ask HN: What makes a good technical leader – any recommended books?” ↗'The Deadline: A novel about project management' by Tom DeMarco Critical Chain by Eliyahu M. Goldratt The Unicorn Project by Gene Kim (sequel to the Phoenix Project) Makers by Cory Doctorow Daemon & Freedom™ by…
on “Ask HN: What's some great fiction for founders and entrepreneurs?” ↗I'm a big fan of The Deadline: A Novel About Project Management by Tom DeMarco.
on “Ask HN: Fictional business books like The Goal” ↗…make collective decisions. Do your homework before the meeting. Which is why agenda are circulated -- and even more because: Make it optional. Yes! And as Tom DeMarco points out in (I believe) The Deadline, meetings which don't stick to the agenda lead inevitably to everyone having to come to every single meeting just in case something gets decided. If the agenda is trustworthy, people will stay away who…
on “Meetings: Where Work Goes to Die” ↗I found the books by Tom DeMarco (who became famous for his novel "The Deadline") to be very insightful as well as instructive on that topic. In particular, his book "Slack" (2001) has a chapter "Managing Eve" where he describes how to manage exactly that kind of great employees…
on “How To Manage Geeks” ↗…both academic and opinionated support and/or critique for why they are and aren't so. 'Making Software', Oram and Wilson. An edited collection of papers on evidence-based software engineering. 'The Deadline', Tom DeMarco. A thinly disguised commercial for his advice on how to organize software development teams and organizations, packaged as light, light novel.
on “Ask HN: What language-agnostic programming books should I read?” ↗Tom DeMarco in "The Deadline" presents the idea that for each meeting you could look round the room and excuse someone to get back to work. Whoever would most benefit from getting back to work rather than being at the meeting - let…
on “Rands in Repose: How to Run a Meeting” ↗In one of DeMarco's other books -- I can't now recall if it was PeopleWare or The Deadline -- he explains how arbitrary deadlines come unstuck. Because people learn that they are arbitrary. When the Super Serious Urgent Red Alert All Hands Man Battle Stations deadline whistles by without much…
on “Software Effort Estimation Considered Harmful” ↗…in all needed roles, you haven't finished that task. (I wanted to add a Tom DeMarco quote here, but I don't recall which of his books described how to build a software development team - perhaps "The Deadline"?)
on “Ask HN: We have a great team and capital but can't find a good idea” ↗