Tonight I was sitting at home, reading through some Business Requirements for an upcoming release at work... sounds like fun, doesn't it!?! Anyhow, I came across a particular line in the documents that just made me laugh. (I've edited the exact statement a bit to remove any actual names)

These requirements have been determined by [insert client here] based on the current understanding of [insert your application here] and the [insert client here] needs. As development, future testing, and field validation occur, additional requirements may be identified.

Now normally I might not have found the following line so funny had I not recently read [via Haacked] Micah Dylan's post entitled "Requirements may be harmful." In his post Micah discusses an experience that he and his company (shameless plug coming) Veloc|IT dealt with a client whose requirements were so thorough/percise/numerous that the solution actually got lost in the midst of all of all the documentation. So when I was reading through my requirements documentation for work and saw that line, I had to laugh because whether the requirements be feast (as in Micah's case), or famine (my case)... you'll never really know what you have to do, until you have to do it. Yeah, read that last part again. I suppose that line of thinking goes right along with one of Micah's own cardinal rules

No complex problem is fully understood until you attempt to solve it.

I believe that is a mantra I may have to adopt...