I want to thank you all for your passion, support, and attention to this issues at hand. I’ve been considering how to keep this thread from running any further amok. Given that the dialog we are trying to have is a bit beyond what can legitimately be expected to happen via comments on a single blog post, I’m closing further comments on this post.

Thank you for reading and participating!

Best,
Laura Brandau

To me she is saying document what will add value to the project, not document for document sake.

“I discuss some options with the project leadership and document consumers. I seek out their input on what would help them take the next step. ”

This tells me Laura is working with the key players to help determine how she can make the project a success. Project success is delivering the right solution.

I think you are barking up the wrong tree. Any chance Scott Ambler is now writing under the name of Paula Thornton?!!

Sure, I made money doing all sorts of documentation (including requirements) for years. Mindlessly doing the same thing and expecting different results is…well, you know how the story goes.

The point is that I’ve seen plenty of projects that have been deemed a ’success’ because they met the requirements (and bonuses were riding on the attribute), but the solutions were never used, or abandoned, or to this day cause remarkable burdens on the employees — hours of work that are unproductive.

Throw up your hands if you choose, ignore the conversation if you choose…the facts still remain, it’s not working. Doubt it…do two side-by-side efforts (similar to A/B testing on web sites — different designs, different approaches). Ask 37Signals what their approach to gathering requirements looks like (http://37signals.com/svn/archives/001050.php).

Step away from the car…it’s booby-trapped. It may have worked in the past…it’s about ready for a major meltdown and the fact that you’ve been doing it for years…ask the residents of Jerusalem who denied the prophets who insisted that Jerusalem was going to be utterly destroyed by the Babylonians in 500BC how that went for them.

The unfathomable is already happening. Surviving by the skin of your teeth is not evidence that you will continue to do so. But you’re free to continue to believe in the ‘old’ reality. Just be sure to tag this piece. One of us will be able to point back to it and say, “I told you so.”