So, in other words: write a specification document and then build.
Isn't this what many reasonably run companies do anyway? There have been very few instances in my coding career where I've been asked to build something that didn't have a spec doc, design or some form of legwork done prior to implementation. A design I would argue is a form of documentation, visual documentation. The handful of situations where I've been asked to do something was a result of one boss in particular who was an ideas guy and would always come to me and ask me to build demos for ideas based on a few minutes of conversation.
Isn't this what many reasonably run companies do anyway? There have been very few instances in my coding career where I've been asked to build something that didn't have a spec doc, design or some form of legwork done prior to implementation. A design I would argue is a form of documentation, visual documentation. The handful of situations where I've been asked to do something was a result of one boss in particular who was an ideas guy and would always come to me and ask me to build demos for ideas based on a few minutes of conversation.