What is the "Mission impossible" dilemma, and what does it cost?

Someone creates or accepts a project plan they know cannot be met, because of pressure or other reasons; the result is burnt-out staff and lost revenue.

The dilemma lies in the moment of accepting the schedule: objecting feels like refusing an order, so the plan gets signed. Consequences:

• loss of qualified staff through overload and burnout,
• lost revenue because customers were given false promises.

The matching ACM/IEEE imperative is to honour assigned responsibilities, which includes requesting a change to an assignment you believe cannot be completed as defined. The obstacle is organisational culture, in which accepting whatever a supervisor assigns is the norm.