In most cases though, anticipating requirements results in building things you don't need. And if you do need them, you usually end up needing a very different form of it. The worst codebase I have worked on is the one that was designed with some complex future-use in mind. In your example as well, the codebase only required columns a year later. So I think removing all chunks of code that anticipate a future need sets the right precedent, even if you end up needing it eventually.