The mating game [project management]

A proposed engineering project may be regarded as a sequence of predetermined tasks, with each task being of predetermined length. Alternatively, a proposed engineering project may be regarded as being similar to a game of chess, in which there are an unknown number of unknown moves, with each move being an attempt to make some progress from whatever mess exists as a result of previous moves. The author discusses an imaginary scenario between an engineer wishing to enter a chess tournament who asks management to fund the venture. An imaginary conversation between the engineer and two managers regarding the proposed venture is given.