There Aren’t Any Easy Answers
People often think (or wish) there’s an easy answer to a thorny question, if only a consultant would tell them. However, often there is not.
5 min readNov 7, 2024
As a consultant and trainer, I’ve spent a lot of time helping organizations improve how they develop and manage the requirements for software projects. Most people realize this is a challenging task without many shortcuts. Yet some people have asked me questions in a way that suggests they hope I will provide a magic, easy solution to their difficult problem. If only I could.
If It Was Easy, Anyone Could Do It
A student asked me during a requirements training course, “What should you do if your requirements are written in Japanese?” This American software development organization was collaborating with a Japanese company, which supplied their requirements initially written in their native language. I could think of only four possible ways to deal with this situation:
- Learn to read Japanese.
- Have someone translate the requirements they receive from Japanese into English.
- Persuade the Japanese originators to write them in English in the first place.
- Have a Japanese speaker work closely with…
