good methodology does not guarantee good architecture

A friend at work sent me this link to a good brain dump today. Following a good methodology like the Rational Unified Process is a good idea, but if your goal is to have a well architected solution, not just a well documented one, then you must also be a good software engineer. The methodology does not do this for you.

And at the core of RUP is a small area where you have to use OO design talents... if you don't have them, it's like having a methodology for running the 100m.
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Unfortunately, the outcome of RUP is that you end up with extremely well documented TERRIBLE designs. Unless you have a good OO designer to start with. In which case they'd have come up with a good design anyway, but on less paper.

Most projects don't even attempt to create an illusion of having a good design by way of such documentation. The design and documentation is bad to start with. After much has been done in this vein, not much can be done to remediate it. As my dad used to say so eloquently... "You can't polish a turd, son."