Most projects (not just software) never ship unless there's a deadline. For example, how many students complete their term papers weeks before they're due? If there was no due date, how many would ever complete them?
I know I never would have learned much of anything in college without deadlines and exams.
Of course. I'm not advocating for no deadlines. I'm advocating for flexibility.
If your deadline arrives and you can honestly say you've worked hard but haven't met it, consider extending the deadline in the name of quality.
Again, this takes discipline. You have to be honest with yourself if you are just moving the deadline back because you were slacking. In my case many times, the deadline was not hit because the scope of the project was underestimated. We were working hard on a new technology stack, but missed the deadline. Rather than delay the product, CEO decided to launch (despite our warnings).
Needless to say, the brand suffered.
I understand its a tug of war. Managers need to put out something. Engineers are never ready. The art in it all, is finding the balance. Being flexible to listen to your engineers, and knowing them well enough to trust them.
A developer themselves can hold themselves to an artificial timeline. It takes discipline, and patience, to choose quality over speed to market.
CEOs and managers almost always prioritize time to market, over quality. That's the problem.