be late

 there are three aspects to creating software. How long to finish, the features and the quality. Management will push you to get done faster, then complain that you made mistakes. 

My solution was to turn in world class software late. Bosses fret and complain, but they never figure out that customers loved my software. Management has a weird blindspot.

How late should software be? Most projects should be 12.5% late, on average. Don't tell anyone you are doing this. Don't even tell youself, just work hard and turn it in when it's world class. The final product will be about 12.5% late.