Estimates are lies, and that's okay

"How long will it take?"

It’s the most common question in the tech industry, and we all know the dirty little secret: the answer we give is almost always wrong. In the fast-paced world of software development and infrastructure management, we treat estimates like legally binding contracts, yet they are often little more than educated guesses wrapped in optimism.

But here’s the good news: estimates are lies, and that’s perfectly okay.

In this session, we will strip away the guilt of the missed deadline and look at estimation through a pragmatic lens. Drawing from almost a decade of battling the chaos of operations and steering complex project lifecycles, this talk explores why technical estimation fails so predictably - and why we should stop trying to make it perfect.

We will shift the conversation from accuracy to alignment, proving that the true value of an estimate isn’t the final number, but the critical conversations, risk mitigation, and shared understanding that happen while creating it.

Usually 45minutes-1 hour is a great slot, anyone involved in the tech product lifecycle or any other roles that requires estimation at some point!

Context switching, and how to survive it

Context switching is unavoidable in the tech industry, but unmanaged it quietly destroys focus, productivity, and decision quality across teams (as well as morale!).

This talk breaks down the real cost of constant interruptions and gives practical, tested strategies to protect deep work, structure workflows, and stay effective in high-interruption environments. Also we’ll learn how to say “no” more.

Not everyone’s brain is the same, and this is taken into account when providing new habit suggestions.

Usually fits a 45minute-1hour slot well. Chance to present and then dig into individual use cases.

Target audience is anyone who feels the need to better their work practices.

Resilience in Tech (and every other industry probably)

"If you become drained, bitter, brittle and reactive, you won't be effective."

A deep dive into how we can manage ourselves, so that we're nicer to work with, more productive and just generally a well rounded human.

We'll cover a whole range of topics, including work/life balance, giving/taking feedback, managing expectations, avoiding exhaustion, escapes.

Also.. how to deal with folks who are drained, bitter, brittle and reactive!

Project Managers, what are they good for?

You’ve seen us in your stand-ups, your inbox, and your nightmares. But before you write us off as meeting schedulers, let’s talk about why good PMs are secretly your best friend.

Join a PM’s quest to prove we’re more than calendar jockeys and meeting magicians.