Bart Simpson’s Guide?

 How do we sell systems engineering convincingly to:

your customer?
your CEO?
the technical director of a 10-man SME?
Your 17-year-old son or daughter?
A 2nd year undergraduate?
Tony Blair?

 And having sold, how do you make sure you deliver

on the expectation?

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 A possible framework

Only on big projects

Scale more on
Invariant bigger
projects

Only on small projects

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Traditional defence and aerospace “command and control” model:
• process oriented;

The key issues

• defined structures & frameworks
• leverage individual effort and creativity for the benefit of the whole
Effectiveness is increased by ability to leverage large resources;
but limited by inertia in sensing and responding to changes in the environment
Efficiency is limited by:
• communication overhead
• high cost leads to high desire for control
• lack of shared understanding
• tendency to bureaucracy

Only on big projects

Scale more on
Invariant bigger
projects

Only on small projects

Lightweight “small innovative team” model:

• output oriented;
• everyone knows everything & everyone
• responsive
Effectiveness is reduced by inability to leverage large resources; dependence on what the team
happen to know; dependence on what’s inside peoples’ heads
Efficiency is maximised by:
• low communication overhead
• low cost leads to low desire for control
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• shared understanding
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 What now?
 “Actors” will roleplay each character to give a 2-3 minute
precis of things they have heard about systems
engineering that interest them, and their objections to
using it.
 The audience is invited to note the first and respond to
the second.
 Rapporteurs will try to capture a consensus that captures
the plus points and deals with the objections.
• Focus on “scale invariant” and “scaleable” aspects; be wary of
things only relevant to “big projects”
• but a possible conclusion is that systems engineering’s value is to
do things we can’t do any other way - i.e. big projects.

 SEPDC chair will then explore best way to turn the results
into an INCOSE UK Chapter “product”.
• Volunteers for working group to do this are solicited!
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 Closing remarks

Hillary Sillitto

President elect UK Chapter

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 Thanks to

 Presenters

 John Mead and Pete Lister for the admin

 Dipesh for organising the programme

 Every one of you for your enthusiasm and the

brilliant audience participation

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 Themes
 How we are organised, what we’re doing
new tech board, local groups, working groups
please comment on tech vision and competency
framework

 Risk -
different viewpoints and perspectives
financial model
mountaineering analogy

 business benefit
different ways of looking at SE, business benefits, - -
people stuff:
• simple practical deployment, competencies and
requirements
• Bart Simpson’s Guide

 Modelling - SysML is coming!

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 West Coast Main Line - programme delivery 7
 Some key points

 The central INCOSE organisation is “INCOSE centre”

or “INCOSE International”
 EuSEC 2006 in UK

 Papers for Spring Conference

integration of complex systems
innovation and creativity in system creation
metrics
---

 Please fill in conference assessment form

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 Back to basics - can we define
Bart Simpson’s Guide to Systems
Engineering?

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 The customer

 I want reassurance that I will get what I asked for

and am paying for.
 If the supplier has to change things or has to do
trade-offs I won’t feel hoodwinked but will be
included in the process.
 Traceability will allow me to understand how
technical features relate to my needs and help me
to decide when it is worth persisting to solve difficult
technical problems.

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 The CEO

 I have been offered all sorts of silver bullets over

the past ten years - EFQM, 6 sigma, PRINCE 2, TQM,
CMMI, - - and none has delivered the claimed
benefits.
 I agree most of my projects are running late and I’d
like to improve that situation.
 But you’re telling me that systems engineering will
add delays up front.
 So if you want me to take you seriously, you have to
show me the ROI from introducing systems
engineering - and prove it!
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 Technical Director of 10-man SME

 I want systems engineering sold as a simple

exercise to integrating engineering activities to
deliver what’s wanted when it’s wanted, and give
me a broad perspective on the technical aspects of
the business.

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 Prime minister

 Systems engineering would be interesting if it can

resolve conflicts to deliver vital public services -
health service - transportation - schools - and deal
with the huge security issues we now face.
 This is important to me because I want to make sure
I am remembered for the enduring success of the
achievements of my three terms in office
 But there isn’t much time left and I need results
soon.

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 Undergraduate

 INCOSE needs to know what it’s selling.

 I’ve only been involved in systems engineering for 2

months and lots of people have described systems
engineering to me but all the descriptions are
different.
 A “unified theory of everything” would be a
really good idea.
 We need to show how systems engineering works
with other disciplines and what other disciplines
need to understand about systems engineering.
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 More input from recent graduate
 What does a systems engineer do?
 INCOSE needs to know/present purpose - as with any project, present a unified front.
 Interaction of SE with other disciplines
 To sell SE to undergraduates, the SE community needs to know what they are selling, and
know how to sell it and show benefits to different groups.

 Show SE is part of all engineering disciplines

 make sure undergraduates on other engineering courses understand SE needs to be part
of their skill base, show them how what they are learning can be applied within SE
 show the undergrads what they can expect in the future - NOT ALL OF THEM WILL BE
RIGHT FOR SE. Empower them with the information to make that decision for themselves.

 Unified theory - very difficult but necessary

 other disciplines are very well defined
 SE has many definitions (some complementary, some at different ends of spectrum)
 Fewer diagrams/processes/lifecycles but better defined;
 Simplify language, remove buzzwords

 Communication very important - relate ideas to known domains, everyday

events,
 Simple ideas, analogies, case studies: supermarket choice, mountaineering, - -
 Sell through use of SE on real projects: show successes/failures of exciting projects
with/without SE
 Successes - battle of britain - failures - many defence projects

 Final thought
 It’s not just about recruiting new systems engineers - it’s also making sure that other
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 17-year-old

 Can you explain to me what you do at work in 2 minutes

in words I can understand?
 Why are you often so stressed when you get home?

 Can you make me a mobile that looks cool and works

properly?
 Will I get paid more as a systems engineer than as an
accountant?
 And by the way, can I have the car keys please?

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 Key themes

 SIMPLE

 UNIFIED THEORY

 STRUCTURED PROBLEM SOLVING

 REASSURANCE

 ROI

 MAKE A DIFFERENCE

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 The plan

 “Snapshot” article in Pre-View

 Offers to take this forward in a working group are

solicited

 desired INCOSE UK product(s):

a 2-side A4 sheet that sells SE effectively to “non-
believers”

 and if possible
validate/expand stakeholder viewpoints?
well-documented case studies - successes, failures and
why
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