Sydney’s Opera House was originally forecast in 1957 to be completed in 1963. It didn’t happen that way. 10 years later and at 15 times greater expense than predicted, the magnificent structure was finally completed.
As the complexity of projects increases, so too does the failure rate of meeting schedule.
The problem is known as Hofstadter’s law.
In 1979, Scientist Douglas Hofstadter conceived an ironic and recursive rule that everything takes longer than planned. Hofstadter’s Law states, “It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s law”.
What’s ironic about this “law” is that despite even the best efforts of a smallish company like ours, it still rings true. Sure, most of us have likely read author Fred Brook’s The Mythical Man-Month but despite doubling or even tripling the time we expect to take, we’re still struggling with deadlines.
Which is a long winded way to let you know that despite our best efforts, long-awaited product launches like the AirLens, the BHK600, and DirectStream II are still alive and well. They are just taking longer than expected.
I’ll keep you updated as we get closer to these exciting new products.
Paul McGowan / PS AUDIO
