Martin Fowler has a great post about fixed-price projects. They, at ThoughtWorks, just doubled original estimate (so half a million becomes one million). It reminds me Estimation Games (exceptional Rob Thomsett's article). He calls this game "Doubling and add some". I was taught this game in 1968 by Bob Smyth who, in those days, was the smartest person I had ever met. Simply, you figure out