One common problem I see in the IT industry is the qualification of IT decisions. I talk to architects from all around the world and hear a lot of creative and innovate ways of solving problems. More often than not, what I don’t hear is more concerning. When I have asked: Why did we approach the problem in this manner? How does this align to the business? Does this fulfill the business, functional and non-functional requirements Why is this the optimal architecture? Obviously there are a lot of other questions, but to keep this concise above are some sample questions. The last question is particularly interesting. I have heard a broad range of fluffy answers such as: “trust me, I know what I am doing”, “I have been doing this for 20 years, I know how to do this”, “I am the expert of [X]”. All of these responses may be completely true but doesn’t quantify the solution. It doesn’t demonstrate that there was a process or a clear level of due diligence that was performed.