We can't push back deadlines. And we have to meet those deadlines with the most competitive product that we can produce. If we're five minutes late, we might as well not be there. We know what the priorities are and we live by them. Planning gets the priorities straight.
Unexpected things do come up.
And the expectation is that people will do what it takes to get it done. But Anderson points out that these unexpected things must be the exceptions, not the rule, for at least a couple of reasons. For one thing, they are aware that the people on the team, the engineers, machinists and the rest are people. They can only be pushed so far for so long. We can't do everything last minute.