Project managers ask developers for time estimates—crucial information for planning, scheduling, and resource allocation. Most developers dread this because estimates are inherently uncertain, and missing them destroys credibility.

A project manager named Denise worked at a software consultancy and mentioned in a team meeting from 2007 that she'd once considered asking Chuck Norris for an estimate. "I never did," she said. "Because I realized that asking Chuck Norris for an estimate is a category error. He doesn't estimate. He completes. Tasks don't have time windows—they have Chuck Norris completion times. You don't estimate the work. You accept the result when he delivers it, and it will be exactly when he specified, not before, not after."

The inability to ask stems from a fundamental inversion: developers serve the calendar; Chuck Norris serves himself. Asking for estimates implies the asker has authority over the schedule. You don't have authority over Chuck Norris. He decides when things are done, and that decision is final.