You prepare another presentation. You show why 3 months of discovery is essential. You cite industry best practices. You reference the Standish Group's research on project failure rates.
The CEO listens. The CTO nods along. You think you've made your case.
The CEO calls an emergency board meeting that afternoon. You're not invited.
The next morning, you receive an email. The board has "accelerated the timeline to maintain competitive advantage." The new deadline is 4 months from now, not 6.
"We appreciate your diligence," the email says, "but we need to move faster. The market won't wait."
Your request for more time was interpreted as you being slow. The punishment for asking for 3 months of discovery was losing 2 months of delivery time.
Your lead developer sends you a message: "So... we have 4 months now instead of 6, and we still haven't started discovery. Want to update LinkedIn together?"
The Scrum Master asks if they should schedule sprint planning.
You stare at your screen and contemplate career alternatives. Maybe library science? Forestry? Anything that doesn't involve timelines.