We've all had some or all of these:
(someone chimed in):
a Procrustean Task, which expands or contracts in real time to occupy the maximum available schedule and budget
a Ulyssean Task, in which you fight your way through all manner of unlikely side quests in bringing the task to completion, only to discover that you now have to deal with a bunch of glory seekers trying to snake your department away from you
a Patroclean Task, which appears to be the most significant and immediate primary task until it has been completed and you realize that you have missed the real primary task entirely
an Orphean Task, in which you try to save the project from the depths of Hell only to eventually get torn apart, for your trouble
a Penelopean Task, in which half of every day’s work is undoing the work of the day before
a Thesean Task, in which every original component and participant in the project has been replaced at least once by the time of the project’s completion
a Pasiphaëan Task, in which the best crew available labors overtime to help create an unexpectedly terrible product which never gets released
a Tantalean Task, during which necessary resources are withdrawn from availability as rapidly as they can be requested
an Iphigenean Task, in which someone is going to be sacrificed in the hope of getting things moving, and that someone is you
a Medusean Task, at the start of which one takes a single look at the schedule and budget and finds one’s self petrified
(someone chimed in):
a Procrustean Task, which expands or contracts in real time to occupy the maximum available schedule and budget
a Ulyssean Task, in which you fight your way through all manner of unlikely side quests in bringing the task to completion, only to discover that you now have to deal with a bunch of glory seekers trying to snake your department away from you
a Patroclean Task, which appears to be the most significant and immediate primary task until it has been completed and you realize that you have missed the real primary task entirely
an Orphean Task, in which you try to save the project from the depths of Hell only to eventually get torn apart, for your trouble
a Penelopean Task, in which half of every day’s work is undoing the work of the day before
a Thesean Task, in which every original component and participant in the project has been replaced at least once by the time of the project’s completion
a Pasiphaëan Task, in which the best crew available labors overtime to help create an unexpectedly terrible product which never gets released
a Tantalean Task, during which necessary resources are withdrawn from availability as rapidly as they can be requested
an Iphigenean Task, in which someone is going to be sacrificed in the hope of getting things moving, and that someone is you
a Medusean Task, at the start of which one takes a single look at the schedule and budget and finds one’s self petrified
