time estimates

Project Management, I will freely admit, is a discipline that I do not entirely understand. It seems like it would be easy enough: collect requirements, keep track of the details of progress made against said goals, identify problems hopefully before they come up, and chart a course through problems when they do arise. And, yet, project management remains mercurial and mysterious. Hell, I think most Project Managers would find it hard pressed to fully articulate what leads to successful project management vs. unsuccessful project management.