Frederick Brooks
Fred Brooks had a significant influence on the thinking of many software engineers. His seminal and reflective paper influenced the Rock Crusher “No Silver Bullet – Essence and Accidents of Software Engineering” Brooks, F., & Kugler, H. (1987). No silver bullet (pp. 1-14). April.
His quote
“The hardest single part of building a software system is deciding precisely what to build. No other part of the conceptual work is as difficult as establishing detailed technical requirements….No other part of the work so cripples the resulting system if done wrong”
captures the primary the Rock Crusher is solving, discovering what the right thing to build is. Most engineering teams are fully capable of building the right thing. But just as we chide project managers, who cares if we build it right, on time, and on budget if it was the wrong thing to build?
Built right, on time, and on budget, but was it the right thing to build?