Over promise under deliver versus under commit over deliver

There are times in our life whereby we unwittingly over commit to get something done but under deliver eventually; in the sense the outcome of our efforts fell short of committed expectations. At times we may succumb to the pressure from our superiors and thus say ‘yes’ to whatever ridiculous and unrealistic demands, only to eventually lose our credibility when things don’t turn out as expected to what we have promised to deliver. Our self egoistic and over confidence altitude may also lead us to over commit to something that we may not be able to deliver down the road.

Conversely, we may be overcautious at times and lack the ability and confidence to commit to a deliverable only to eventually realize we are able to and indeed actually deliver beyond what was committed. The question that I often ponder is which is preferable, over commit under deliver or under commit over deliver? At a glance, it seems that we are better off with under commitment over deliver; we should be mindful though if we constantly under commit but over deliver, the management may no longer take our words seriously and assume we are trying to live the easy way out with regards to project deliverables by understating the ability to accomplish goals.

So in summary, yes, we are probably better off with sticking with under commit over deliver situation and circumstances, however we should exercise caution to make sure it does not becomes a habit which may result in management wrongfully thinking that we are trying to take the easy way out by intentionally under committing to a project deliverable.