Re: poorly written specifications

Although I agree that clarity is vital, specifications can be misused as a crutch. More importantly, the developer(s) need a deep understanding of the business problem that they are crafting a solution for. Any developer that requires specifications that say, "Put this button here" will fail. There are a million little (but important) decisions that we as developers have to make on a constant basis.

The solution is to make developers a part of the business process. If business units treat us as hired guns, coming in to code exactly to their specifications ("Don't think, just code!"), misunderstandings and disconnects will abound, and you will spend forever caught in a unproductive testing and revision feedback loops.

So yes, clear specifications are important, but not as important on ongoing dialogue and a willingness by developers (and project managers) to roll up their sleeves, work to understand the business problem, and stop trying to just code to the specs (nothing more, nothing less).