Super intersting idea - TechnicalDebt [from Martin Fowler] which, apparently, originally came from Ward.

Software costs time, money, and resources to produce. The more you skip the initial phases of design, the more you have to pay later. I find this idea to be so simple, and yet so ignored by many managers. There are times, of course, when it is totally OK to go into debt. I went into debt to buy cars, houses, etc... however you always have a plan to get out of debt - and you are alway deliberate (or should be) in your decision to get into debt.

I have seen way too many projects that go deep (deep!) into technical debt for no apparent gain, and with no plan to get out of debt. Often these projects go technically bankrupt, however more often than not they transfer their debt to some other project that is in better technical shape.