I'm sure those words have been echoed in many IT departments up and down the country.

With those words at the start of a meeting I was under the impression that "The most important project" would actually have some PRINCE-2 methodogy behind it but six months in to the project and I'm being told that no one has actually documented the requirements, set the win conditions or anything else so now there are a group of people running around trying to deliver something that is the most important project we have every done with with no clear 'win' to end the project on.

Maybe it's the suspicious part of me but I really can't imagine that the people on this project haven't thought of this? Surely, they must have asked for requirements and all that? I can only surmise that it's being done so that those at the 'coal face' part of the project can be refused bonuses as the 'work didn't met the set criteria' which will, of course, be written after the project to make the managers look good and the staff look bad.

Did I say I was paranoid?