"Take a government contract I worked on years ago. It is undoubtedly the most successful project I’ve ever worked on, at least from the standpoint of the usual project management metrics: it was completed early, it was completed under budget, and it completed a scheduled month-long acceptance test in three days.
This project operated under some unusual constraints: the contract was denominated and paid in a foreign currency and was absolutely firm fixed-price, with no change management process in the contract at all. In fact, as part of the contract, the acceptance test was laid out as a series of observable, do-this and this-follows tests that could be checked off, yes or no, with very little room for dispute. Because of the terms of the contract, all the risk of any variation in requirements or in foreign exchange rates were on my company.
The process was absolutely, firmly, the classical waterfall, and we proceeded through the steps with confidence, until the final system was completed, delivered, and the acceptance test was, well, accepted.
After which I spend another 18 months with the system, modifying it until it actually satisfied the customers needs."
This project operated under some unusual constraints: the contract was denominated and paid in a foreign currency and was absolutely firm fixed-price, with no change management process in the contract at all. In fact, as part of the contract, the acceptance test was laid out as a series of observable, do-this and this-follows tests that could be checked off, yes or no, with very little room for dispute. Because of the terms of the contract, all the risk of any variation in requirements or in foreign exchange rates were on my company.
The process was absolutely, firmly, the classical waterfall, and we proceeded through the steps with confidence, until the final system was completed, delivered, and the acceptance test was, well, accepted.
After which I spend another 18 months with the system, modifying it until it actually satisfied the customers needs."