An excellent post. Also appreciated Endi's comment about the fear of being done. Your post and Endi's comment have application far beyond the world of software engineers. In the surreal world of lawyers, there is a circle of hell inhabited by attorneys who can never finish working on their contracts or briefs because the document is never perfect. A nearby circle of hell is the one inhabited by attorneys for whom no detail is too small (the folks who don't understand what is and what is not important) with the result that every detail receives equal attention. Needless to say the denizens of these two circles of hell believe (in good faith and with all their hearts) that they are zealously pursuing the best interests of their clients and that the rest of the world is composed of slackers (or worse). Needless to say, these traits result in the work product being late and expensive. Also, at the risk of becoming the subject of lawyer hate mail, there is definitely a point of diminishing returns (never recognized by the denizens of these two circles of hell). This behavior also impacts the rest of the legal team, for whom this work may be precatory (as lawyers say) to work they must then do under greater than necessary time pressure. Perhaps the most stunning turn is that these very lawyers then wonder why clients are unhappy. A question that is usually followed with a statement denigrating the client's intelligence and inability to understand the legal process.