Before
Project completion: Fri 17:00
Alice
- BuildFri 09:00–Fri 16:00
Ben
- ReviewFri 16:00–Fri 17:00
Hard deadline: Fri 17:00Tight headroom
BEFORE → CHANGE → CONSEQUENCE → REVISED PLAN
The plan looked fine.
Then something changed.
Five small stories about real scheduling consequences.
Every person, project and request here is fictional. The timings come from the actual Can You Just scheduling engine, using the assumptions stated for each example. Times use Europe/London. These are illustrations, not a live workspace or promises about your delivery dates.
A FICTIONAL SCHEDULING STORY
The 45-minute interruption
Before
Alice has seven hours of build work. Ben’s one-hour review waits for it. Friday’s 17:00 commitment fits.
The change
At 10:17, Alice commits a 45-minute request: ‘Can you just fix the customer export?’
After
Project completion: Fri 17:45
Alice
- BuildFri 09:00–Fri 10:17
- Interruption · Customer export fixFri 10:17–Fri 11:02
- BuildFri 11:02–Fri 16:45
Ben
- ReviewFri 16:45–Fri 17:45
Hard deadline: Fri 17:00Hard deadline threatened
Example assumptions. Friday 23 October 2026. Both people have a deliberately simple 09:00–18:00 calendar without breaks. The fix is committed work; actual effort has not been recorded.
THE CONSEQUENCE
The build now finishes at 16:45. Ben’s review moves with it, despite receiving no interruption.
THE REVISED PLAN
Completion is Friday 17:45. The 17:00 hard deadline stays fixed, so the forecast shows a threatened commitment.
A FICTIONAL SCHEDULING STORY
The person who wasn’t interrupted
Before
Alice prepares the work from 09:00 to 11:00. Ben reviews it from 11:00 to noon.
The change
Alice takes a committed one-hour export fix at 10:00. Ben’s calendar, estimate and assignment stay unchanged.
Before
Project completion: Mon 12:00
Alice
- PreparationMon 09:00–Mon 11:00
Ben
- ReviewMon 11:00–Mon 12:00
After
Project completion: Mon 13:00
Alice
- PreparationMon 09:00–Mon 10:00
- Interruption · Customer export fixMon 10:00–Mon 11:00
- PreparationMon 11:00–Mon 12:00
Ben
- ReviewMon 12:00–Mon 13:00
Example assumptions. Monday 19 October 2026. Both people work 09:00–18:00 without breaks in this isolated example. One explicit stage dependency connects preparation to review.
THE CONSEQUENCE
Preparation finishes at noon. The finish-to-start dependency prevents Ben reviewing it at 11:00.
THE REVISED PLAN
Ben reviews from 12:00 to 13:00. His work moved because its prerequisite moved, not because someone edited his task.
A FICTIONAL SCHEDULING STORY
The deadline that cannot move
Before
Alice’s two hours of release checks fit from 15:00 to the hard deadline at 17:00.
The change
A committed urgent fix reserves her first hour, from 15:00 to 16:00.
Before
Project completion: Fri 17:00
Alice
- Release checksFri 15:00–Fri 17:00
Hard deadline: Fri 17:00Tight headroom
After
Project completion: Fri 18:00
Alice
- Interruption · Customer export fixFri 15:00–Fri 16:00
- Release checksFri 16:00–Fri 18:00
Hard deadline: Fri 17:00Hard deadline threatened
Example assumptions. Friday 23 October 2026. Alice works until 18:00. No priorities or dependencies are changed to hide the capacity shortfall.
THE CONSEQUENCE
The deadline creates no extra capacity. Release checks now need 16:00–18:00.
THE REVISED PLAN
The hard deadline remains Friday 17:00. Completion is forecast for 18:00: one calendar hour beyond the commitment.
A FICTIONAL SCHEDULING STORY
An overnight worker. A daytime reviewer.
Before
Atlas, an externally operated AI resource, has eight hours of preparation from Monday 17:00 to Tuesday 01:00. Alice reviews at 09:00–10:00.
The change
The preparation estimate grows from eight to eighteen working hours. Availability stays the same.
Before
Project completion: Tue 10:00
Alice
- Human reviewTue 09:00–Tue 10:00
Atlas (AI)
- Prepare candidateMon 17:00–Tue 01:00
After
Project completion: Tue 12:00
Alice
- Human reviewTue 11:00–Tue 12:00
Atlas (AI)
- Prepare candidateMon 17:00–Tue 11:00
Example assumptions. 19–20 October 2026. Atlas is explicitly designated as an agent with continuous capacity. Alice works weekdays 09:00–17:00. CYJ calculates a plan; it does not execute the AI work.
THE CONSEQUENCE
Atlas’s preparation now finishes Tuesday at 11:00. Alice is available from 09:00, but the dependency keeps her review waiting.
THE REVISED PLAN
Alice reviews from 11:00 to noon. Continuous AI availability and the human calendar remain distinct; more effort still has a consequence.
Different changes.
One connected plan.
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