# Sean Goedecke - How I estimate work (Highlights)  ## Metadata **Review**:: [readwise.io](https://readwise.io/bookreview/58110616) **Source**:: #from/readwise #from/reader **Zettel**:: #zettel/fleeting **Status**:: #x **Authors**:: [[Sean Goedecke]] **Full Title**:: How I estimate work **Category**:: #articles #readwise/articles **Category Icon**:: 📰 **URL**:: [www.seangoedecke.com](https://www.seangoedecke.com/how-i-estimate-work/) **Host**:: [[www.seangoedecke.com]] **Highlighted**:: [[2026-02-06]] **Created**:: [[2026-02-07]] ## Highlights - Many of the most productive years of my career were spent on teams that did no estimation at all: we were either working on projects that had to be done no matter what, and so didn’t really need an estimate, or on projects that would deliver a constant drip of value as we went, so we could just keep going indefinitely[3](https://www.seangoedecke.com/how-i-estimate-work/#fn-3). ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kgrhnx0vjam3nb285mc21czf)) ^985382265 - **I gather as much political context as possible before I even look at the code**. How much pressure is on this project? Is it a casual ask, or do we *have* to find a way to do this? What kind of estimate is my management chain looking for? ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kgrhvkm711gzxsf0g0vgm79s)) ^985382473 - I don’t “break down the work to determine how long it will take”. My management chain already knows how long they want it to take. **My job is to figure out the set of software approaches that match that estimate.** ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kgrhy1qj1b8xpx49e46edqq3)) ^985382571 - If you refuse to estimate, you’re forcing someone less technical to estimate for you. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kgrhzkh0z5m8b3e9wzhmxq6d)) ^985382620