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The Bugaev Formula

The river of time, the mountain of work, and the lotus of quality. Let’s assign a value of 1 to the optimal deadline, workload and quality. If we halve the deadline to 0.5 or double the workload to 2, the resulting quality falls to 0.5:
  • The shorter the deadline, the lower the quality of work.
  • If the scope of work exceeds the available time, quality declines.
  • Conversely, the longer the deadline, the higher the quality—there is more time to think things through, explore alternatives, or liaise with a client.
Here’s a concise mathematical formulation of the relationship. Let:
  • T = actual deadline (normalised so that the optimal deadline is T = 1)
  • V = actual workload (normalised so that the optimal workload is V = 1)
  • Q = resulting quality (with Q = 1 at the optimal point T = 1, V = 1)
Then Q=T/V:
  • Optimal: T = 1; V = 1; Q = 1/1 = 1
  • Halved time: T = 0.5; V = 1; Q = 0.5/1 = 0.5
  • Doubled work: T = 1;V = 2; Q = 1/2 = 0.5
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