The usual solution in bridge building is: "MORE PEOPLE!"
... but that doesn't work in software (because of training time, less productivity in the meantime and so on, you know the drill), so we don't have that option.
The best idea would be to accept that it will take longer, but that fails flat for political reasons. Bad situation.
I got the impression, that most people are aware, that there is only a finished software or a date, even if they are non-technical.
They got something, even if it's bug-ridden, which they can show and sell someone. And the fixes can be made between the "finish date" and the "first real use". The software that is ready after the finish date just has to work for presentations.
