“If someone is trying to contract for a system, and they can properly identify all the necessary ‘requirements’, then it makes sense to do so. The preference then usually becomes: “meet the requirements, and pick the lowest cost.” But the reality is, in every complex system I've seen, “most ‘requirements’ aren't.”
Given the right combination, nearly any ‘requirement’ will be relaxed to obtain some other gain. The real preferences are hidden behind the ‘requirements’ in some operational analysis space. … As soon as someone lists a set of ‘requirements’ without indicating what makes one system better than another, they've lost the information for comparison.”
– Eric Honour, President INCOSE
