creationism
The (false) belief that large, innovative software designs can be completely
specified in advance and then painlessly magicked out of the void by the normal
efforts of a team of normally talented programmers. In fact, experience has
shown repeatedly that good designs arise only from evolutionary, exploratory
interaction between one (or at most a small handful of) exceptionally able
designer(s) and an active user population - and that the first try at a big new
idea is always wrong. Unfortunately, because these truths don't fit the planning
models beloved of management, they are generally ignored.
[Jargon File]
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