I think fixed deadlines kill quality

True.

But no deadline means unknown quality 🤔
I don't like limbos u_u

I think if you get a fixed deadline people tend to start slow than hurry at the end and quality gets worse the closer you get to the deadline. Sometimes it's the same for sprints and such but you propably won't mess things up in 2 days to finish one feature, like on the last week's to finish all remaining must have features

A professor once told me...nothing is ever "done", it's "due". Granted she was talking about essays but the same is true for alot of technical work.

Groundbreaking revelation that. However deadlines exist, because there is also a relation between quality and cost.

McDonald's could also serve you a Cheeseburger with Kobe beef, wrapped in golden foil and after eating you'd get a free blowjob.

That is increased quality of the product, however it then costs 250 dollars a burger, no one can afford it and employees cannot be paid what they are paid now if this kind of quality is to be offered.

The usual issue with management isn't this, it is that deadlines that are set do not reflect time needed to deliver the quality asked. This is where technical debt usually arises and everything gets royally fucked.

@Maer understands it well.