When we do choose to promote a todo item to the level of “requirement” — that is, a non-negotiable, immutable thing the implementation team •must• do or the results will be a failure — it’s usually one or both of these things:
(1) Institutionalizing and feigning immutability for a large-scale decision which would be prohibitively expensive to adjust mid-process
(2) Attempting to slough off blame for expected project failure (“Not my fault! Look at the requirements!”)