Appendix A. Conclusion
My wife tells me that all really good conclusions start with "so in conclusion". If she's right (which she frequently claims to be), I've already relegated this conclusion to junk status by failing to start it correctly. It is actually a great relief to have the yoke of greatness lifted from my shoulders.
The truth is that in 95 percent of software, getting things right the first time doesn't matter. Unless you're sending software into space or to the bottom of the ocean, then what really matters is how quickly you can adapt to change. Even software deployed to gaming consoles can now be patched through the use of their online services. Although slightly irritating to the end consumer, it is probably not as irritating as a game being delayed while more testing is performed.
The changes to software can stem from an actual change to a business requirement, or just that you didn't get the requirement right in the first place...