Rolling Deadlines - original definition of 'deadline'

Posted by James Briggs on June 04, 2003

In Reply to: Rolling Deadlines posted by Bookworm on June 04, 2003

: :
: : Hi again,

: : "This defense project was terminated because
: : of its swollen expenses and rolling deadlines."

: : What are "Rolling Deadlines"?

: : Thanks!

: This is a guess, but I think this means that the deadlines for this project were constantly being changed. The project was probably behind schedule and original deadlines could not be met, so they were just moved further and further into the future. Apparently this happened to tbe point where the project was in such bad shape that it needed to be terminated altogether.

Just for interest:
Deadline: When you work to a deadline there is a point beyond which the task must not last otherwise the effort will be worthless. This is particularly true of newspapers; if not produced on time they are unsaleable and out of date; dead. The original deadline was a far more lethal line; if crossed actual death occurred. It existed around the Andersonville prisoner of war camp in the USA at the time of their Civil War. It was a white line drawn around the camp; if any prisoner crossed the line they were shot dead.