The fundamental problem with verification is that it is too often seen as separate from design and development. The design and development teams are different from the verification team. The argument is often maid that the teams use different tools and have different skills. I maintain that this is the problem, not the path to a solution.
When verification is part of a design and development process, the integration of the requirements for all of the tasks yields a more robust process and a better product. The question should not be "How do we verify a design" but "how do we design a verifiable product". And then do not ask "how do we verify during development" but instead "how do we develop so that we achieve verified development stages".

This thought came to me again as I read a very well written blog by Shachi Nandan Kakkar, a soon to be senior in high school. (http://www10.edacafe.com/blogs/grahambell/2012/06/28/the-world-of-drama-...)The son of Sunil Sakkar, who deals in design verification, he compared the work required to produce a successful play with the work required to achieve successful product verification. The blog pointed out the complexities of assembling a strong verification team and the importance of the human element in the process.

The problem I had with the story is that it dealt with verification as a separate process from design and development. It must not be. And this, of course, complicates the production of the theatrical work Shachi is referring to. And, in reality, it is the case that what Shachi described is "only" a part of the work that goes on in producing a play.

The construction of the scenery, for example, must go hand in hand with the staging. You do not want actors to be bumping into scenery while moving about the stage, or having the movement look unrealistic due to poor scenery composition. The design and manufacture of costumes also needs to keep in mind the needs of artists, as well as the intentions of the author of the play. Bulky costumes, or those that unduly restrict movement, may be right for the time and location demanded by the playwright, but not suited for a hot and restricted environment as a particular stage.

Verification is part of the system of development of an idea that eventually becomes a product. It is one dimension of a multi-dimensional process that must include concurrence at all stages. This is the reason that doing engineering is difficult. We have gotten very good at dividing complex tasks into more manageable parts, but separating verification from design and development is not a good thing.