The Thermocline of Truth in IT Projects

This article explores the 'thermocline of truth' phenomenon in large IT projects: a barrier to accurate information within the organizational structure, where lower-level employees know the real progress while upper management holds an overly optimistic view. This stems from a lack of objective metrics, engineers' optimism, managers' reluctance to deliver bad news, and upper management rewarding good news and punishing bad news. The author uses personal anecdotes and real-world examples to illustrate this, emphasizing that breaking the 'thermocline' requires honesty from below, rewarding honesty from above, and avoiding unrealistic project timelines.