Ask HN: As a team lead how to handle project going off the rails?

If you're being made into a fall-guy, then GTFO is likely your only solution.

Be careful with the 'depths of incompetence' stuff. It's assigning judgement and value to the people you're working with. That may be valid (or it may not!), but it doesn't help you professionally. Try not to assume you know why they do what they do, just deal with situation as it is. Telling HR about how bad everyone else is simply won't help you at all.

Your strongest arguments would be:

* The well-documented original plan vs. what has actually happened.

* The factual discrepancy between your performance review and reality. Emphasize positive feedback, and get them to advocate on your behalf if possible.

If someone cares enough to sift through all this, they might figure it out and save you, but chances are good that it won't happen. Having a plan B seems quite prudent.

If its gone to HR its already gone pear-shaped. Lay down the facts as you see them, let them know exactly what happened, tell the truth.

If they take it out on you, you know its time to go, but maybe this guy has been pissing other people off and you have no idea about it. Maybe its HR doing due diligence to fire.

Don't make accusations or shit on anyone, you don't know the whole story. Play to your strengths, which is knowing the tech and what it takes to get it to where it needs to be. Make sure you point out your attempts to communicate this fact. Provide any evidence of this- emails, etc. where you're communicating the state of the project and your projections for it. Let them know you've been frustrated with the miscommunication, but make sure that the miscommunication has started with you.

Again, don't shit on anyone. Stick the facts, so that if it blows up in your face it says more about them than it did about you. Its also the kind of resolution I'd I want to see on the interviewer side of "How did you resolve a difficult situation".

As others have said, key at this point is going to be to prioritize in relation to business needs. As hard as that all will be, the process will only get more difficult the longer you wait. I'd also suggest one thing you prioritize personally for yourself whatever happens is eight hours of sleep every night. :-)

As other have also said, you're also going to have to tailor the way you present the message about the facts (i.e. the "alarm") to your current organization's culture and your specific situation in it. You'll need to keep in mind your own talents/resources and current limitations in developing a message or plan (see also "Dunning–Kruger effect" for risks on that). Talents/resources and limitations include your own ability to present a message and what help you can rely on from the rest of the organization to develop a message and present it based on what your coworkers, manager, and management chain value.

If you eventually want to reflect on the larger issues that may have gotten you to this unfortunate situation and what your company can do better in the mid-term and long-term, here is a reading list I put together that includes multiple books on software engineering management as well as broader surrounding issues -- including a great book by Matthew Walker on the importance of adequate good sleep for everyone in an organization: https://github.com/pdfernhout/High-Performance-Organizations...

One item from there:

"Why Deadlines Need to Drop Dead" by Eric Elliott https://medium.com/javascript-scene/why-deadlines-need-to-dr...

"Deadlines are incredibly destructive to team productivity and morale. The #1 challenge software developers face is unrealistic expectations. Can we motivate & push without arbitrary deadlines? You can lead teams without deadlines. You can still deliver code quickly. You can still ship in time for Christmas. But you’ll be dealing with a different management framework. One that puts the deadline pressure on product managers rather than developers. ... The point here is that instead of trying to build out the CEO’s ideal vision of the product you’re bringing to market, you build out a beautiful stepping stone on the way towards that vision. In place of arbitrary deadlines, you deliver consistent, steady progress."

Eric Elliott advocates for the Marketing department creating each hype cycle for what is already finished and tested.

whatever u do, beware: HR dept is there to protect the company from its employees. NOT the other way around - regardless how much anyone fanfares it..

From personal experience, I would endorse the above advice. I'm all for being honest, but organizations are strange beasts, and I once got fired for something just like this.

As long as you are sure you will eventually succeed, ignore the problem and keep going. Being late is no big deal; it's actually a confirmation of how amazing and innovative your product is.

If someone senior brings up the issue, don't flinch, and be ready with an alternative timeline.