Tradeoffs and Commitments
Stage 1 · “Just give me a date”
In a planning sync, a Product leader says: “I have a stakeholder review tomorrow. I need a launch date I can commit to. Can we say the 15th?” Your team has real unknowns — a dependency that hasn't been spiked and a migration no one has sized.
What's at stake
A date given now becomes the date everyone remembers. Too firm and you may miss it publicly; too soft and the leader walks in with nothing.