As the project delivery deadline draws near, the thermocline of truth starts moving up the levels of management because it is becoming harder and harder to deny or hide just where the project stands. Or management will order the project to be shipped or put into production, at which point all parties discover (a) that the actual business drivers and requirements never successfully made it down through the thermocline to those building the system, (b) that there are serious (and perhaps fatal) quality issues with the delivered systems, and thus (c) that the delivered project doesn’t do what top management really requires.