On February 28, 1993 the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) surrounded a compound in Waco Texas with the intent of serving a warrant for the leader of the group living there, David Koresh. On contact the ATF agents were met with a barrage of gunfire which resulted in a firefight which killed several federal agents and civilians in the home. No warrant was served and thus began a nearly two month standoff. The FBI took over the scene on the day of the initial gun fight, handing a phone to agents Steve Schneider and Wayne Martin. Schneider and Martin were going to be the turning point of this crisis. Their mission: find out what the Davidians want. The ATF got caught up in a massive firefight and what’s the first thing the FBI does when they take over? Requirements elicitation. If anyone ever asks you why requirements elicitation matters you can tell them without it we never know if the hostages can be released immediately.
Whether you’re implementing a global human resources solution or providing negotiation support to a hostage situation there is one ground rule to success — know what your organization wants to happen. In a previous post we discussed the eight types of requirements, which I will summarize again before we begin, and today we are going to get into how those requirements are unearthed. You don’t have to be the smartest person in the room to be a great…
