This book celebrates the efforts of women in the international systems engineering community. While there are dozens of books that tackle the topic of systems engineering and thousands of books that address leadership, this book is unique. Emerging Trends in Systems Engineering Leadership: Practical Research from Women Leaders presents personal, well-researched, hands-on perspectives of emerging trends in systems engineering leadership from industry, government, and academia, covering timely topics applicable across many domains – all under one cover. This book presents material for engineers, scientists, technologists, and others to help them tackle challenges in their everyday work dealing with complex socio-technical systems. The book provides guidance for leaders on shoring up essential (soft) skills to address the increasing demand for professional competencies; addresses diversity, equity, inclusion, and empowering women in the workforce; discusses broader facets of systems engineering leadership including systems thinking, ethics and utilitarianism; and investigates the impact of emerging technological change on systems resilience and the digital enterprise. This book provides a multi-perspective approach for leaders to navigate a changing world and develop and deliver optimal system solutions to global societal challenges that meet human needs. To this end, the authors extend beyond the solid technical base to encompass the human aspect of system behavior. This book is written by twenty-six female authors (three of whom also serve as the editors) from around the world at varying career stages who share their research, achievements, perspectives, and successes in emerging areas of systems engineering leadership.
Testimonials:
“As the systems that modern society depends on get more complicated and complex, we are in the midst of a renaissance with regard to research relating to systems engineering and science. A vast majority of this research is focused on the development of a modern toolkit for systems engineers today and into the future. This takes the form of new and improved methods, models, methodology, processes and tools. This research is critical but likely insufficient without a focus on the most valuable resource with regard to systems engineering within any organization – the human resource. Therein lies the focus of this textbook. It addresses systems engineering leadership from a variety of perspectives, while also addressing broad aspects relating to mentoring and the necessary evolving competencies that we need to address in today’s workforce. This emphasis makes this book unique. The icing on the cake is that all the chapters in this textbook are written by contemporary women leaders – this provides a necessary and unique perspective on the topic of leadership – that is long overdue! I highly recommend this textbook to all my colleagues in academia, industry, and government.”
Dinesh Verma, Ph.D.Professor, Systems Engineering, School of Systems and EnterprisesExecutive Director, Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC)Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ 07030
“The past decade has seen a dramatic increase in the number of women who are formally recognized in systems engineering technical, management and leadership positions in all sectors. With industry, academia, professional systems engineering societies and publishers enabling and illuminating the growing and substantial contributions of women in engineering, women have unprecedented opportunities today to contribute to systems engineering in both leadership and management positions. This volume, a compendium of chapters written by enterprising international women leaders at various stages in their career, addresses diverse topics such as leadership, management, empowerment, equity, diversity, inclusion, and mentoring. It is a valuable resource for engineering management courses in academia, systems engineering leadership training in industry, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion program development by Human Resource departments in industry, academia, and government.” Azad M. Madni, Ph.D., NAENorthrop Grumman Foundation Fred O’Green Chair in Engineering Professor of Astronautics and Aerospace and Mechanical EngineeringExecutive Director, Systems Architecting and Engineering ProgramUniversity of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089
Author(s): Alice F. Squires, Marilee J. Wheaton, Heather J. Feli
Series: Women in Engineering and Science
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 373
City: Cham
Foreword
Preface
Endorsement
Acknowledgments
About the Book
Contents
About the Editors
Abbreviations
Part I: Introduction
Chapter 1: Introducing Systems Engineering Leadership and Emerging Trends
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Growing Demand for Essential Skills
1.2.1 Chapter 2: Promoting Yourself into Leadership: Leading from Above, Beside, Below, and Outside
1.2.2 Chapter 3: Systems Engineering Leadership Through Influence and Persuasion
1.2.3 Chapter 4: Improving Competence in the Professional Competencies for Systems Engineers
1.2.4 Chapter 5: Knowledge Sharing and Mentorship as a Systems Engineering Process: Stories and Methods from Industry Experts
1.3 Focusing on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
1.3.1 Chapter 6: Gender Diversity in Systems Engineering Product, Project, and Services Life Cycle Leadership: It’s Not Just Counting the Women
1.3.2 Chapter 7: A Critical Analysis of the Systems Engineering Leadership Pipeline: Closing the Gender Gap
1.4 Broadening Systems Engineering Leadership Facets
1.4.1 Chapter 8: Systems Leadership in the Transformation of Higher Education
1.4.2 Chapter 9: An Ethical Leadership Approach for Complex Systems Integrated into the Systems Engineering Practice
1.4.3 Chapter 10: The Role of Utilitarianism in Systems Engineering Leadership and System Design
1.5 Emerging Technological Change
1.5.1 Chapter 11: Building Systemic Resilience: The Role of Systems Leaders in Social-Ecological Systems
1.5.2 Chapter 12: Achieving Value Through Digital Engineering Transformation
1.6 Conclusion
References
Part II: Growing Demand for Essential Skills
Chapter 2: Promoting Yourself into Leadership: Leading from Above, Beside, Below, and Outside
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Locus of Leadership
2.3 SE Leadership Competencies and Skills
2.4 Leading from Above: Formal Leadership
2.5 Other Ways to Lead: Informal Leadership
2.6 Leading from Below
2.7 Leading from Beside
2.8 Leading from Outside
2.9 Actions for Promoting Yourself into Leadership
2.9.1 Thinking Critically and Making Decisions
2.9.2 Influence
2.9.3 Leverage Opportunities
2.9.4 Communicate
2.9.5 Self-Lead
2.9.6 Coordinate
2.10 Toll of Promoting Yourself into SE Leadership
2.10.1 Challenges of Promoting Yourself into SE Leadership
2.10.1.1 Time and Energy Limitations
2.10.1.2 Trying to Do Too Much Too Quickly
2.10.1.3 Scrutiny and Criticism
2.10.1.4 Need for Resilience
2.10.1.5 Not Getting Appropriate Credit
2.10.2 Risks of Promoting Yourself into SE Leadership
2.10.2.1 Perception of Dereliction of Duty
2.10.2.2 Reputational Risk and Social Responsibility
2.10.2.3 Discovering Leadership Itself Is Not What Was Anticipated
2.10.2.4 Cultural Mismatch
2.10.2.5 Unexpected and Undesirable Results
2.10.2.6 Being Made a Scapegoat
2.10.2.7 Perception You Are a Threat to Decision-Makers
2.11 Impacts on the Organization of Promoting Yourself into Leadership
2.11.1 The Impacts on Diversity, Inclusivity, and Equity
2.11.2 The Impacts on Organizational Culture
2.12 Emerging Trends in Systems Engineering
2.13 Implications of Emerging Trends in Systems Engineering for Promoting Yourself into Leadership
2.13.1 Dancing Across Disciplines
2.13.2 Thinking in Distinctive Cognitive Space
2.13.3 Championing Creative Communication
2.13.4 Surfing the Waves of Change: Coping with Changing Realities
2.14 Summary and Conclusion
References
Chapter 3: Systems Engineering Leadership Through Influence and Persuasion
3.1 Introduction
3.1.1 Systems Engineering and the Strategic Thread
3.1.2 The Criticality of Influence and Persuasion
3.2 The Dimensions of Organizations
3.2.1 Organizational Structures
3.2.2 Organizational Types
3.2.3 Organizational Culture
3.3 The Art of Applying Influence and Persuasion to Roles
3.3.1 Calibrating to the Audience
3.3.2 Adaptive Leadership Roles Adopted Over the Project Life
3.3.3 Holding Cultural Intelligence
3.4 Challenges and Uniqueness of Different Industries and Domains
3.4.1 Practice and Maturity of Systems Engineering in Different Industries
3.5 New Technology Impacts
3.6 Guidance for Measuring Success
3.7 Conclusion
References
Chapter 4: Improving Competence in the Professional Competencies for Systems Engineers
4.1 Introduction
4.1.1 The INCOSE Systems Engineering Competency Framework
4.1.2 Emerging Areas in Systems Engineering
4.1.3 Rationale for Focusing on the Professional Competencies
4.1.4 Chapter Overview
4.2 The INCOSE Professional Competencies
4.2.1 Introduction
4.2.2 Communications
4.2.3 Ethics and Professionalism
4.2.4 Technical Leadership
4.2.5 Negotiation
4.2.6 Team Dynamics
4.2.7 Facilitation
4.2.8 Emotional Intelligence (EI)
4.2.9 Coaching and Mentoring
4.3 Survey of Diversity-Related Research Regarding the Professional Competencies
4.3.1 Introduction
4.3.2 Communications
4.3.3 Ethics and Professionalism
4.3.4 Technical Leadership
4.3.5 Negotiation
4.3.6 Team Dynamics
4.3.7 Facilitation
4.3.8 Emotional Intelligence
4.3.9 Coaching and Mentoring
4.4 Methods for Improving Competence in the Professional Competencies
4.4.1 Introduction
4.4.2 Communications
4.4.3 Resources for Ethics and Professionalism
4.4.4 Using Creative Problem-Solving Methods in Technical Leadership
4.4.4.1 Osborn Parnes Creative Problem-Solving Process
4.4.4.2 Design Thinking
4.4.4.3 TRIZ
4.4.4.4 Discussion
4.4.5 Negotiation
4.4.6 Team Dynamics
4.4.7 Facilitation
4.4.8 Emotional Intelligence
4.4.9 Coaching and Mentoring
4.5 Future Research
4.6 Summary and Conclusions
4.6.1 Personal Observations Regarding the Professional Competencies
4.6.1.1 Personal Experience with Practical Application in Communications
4.6.1.2 Personal Experience with Practical Application of Ethics Resources
4.6.1.3 Personal Experience with Practical Application of Creative Problem-Solving Methods (Exhibiting Technical Leadership)
4.6.1.4 Personal Experience with Practical Application of Negotiation
4.6.1.5 Personal Experience with Practical Application of Team Dynamics
4.6.1.6 Personal Experience with Practical Application of Facilitation
4.6.1.7 Personal Experience with Practical Application of Emotional Intelligence
4.6.1.8 Personal Experience with Practical Application of Coaching and Mentoring
4.6.2 Conclusions Related to Gender and Culture
4.6.3 Final Thoughts
References
Chapter 5: Knowledge Sharing and Mentorship as a Systems Engineering Process: Stories and Methods from Industry Experts
5.1 Introduction
5.2 The Unwritten Roles of a Systems Engineering Leader
5.3 Team Dynamics: All the People Who Didn’t Talk to Each Other
5.4 Communication: All Those Meetings Where We Said a Lot But Communicated Little
5.5 Knowledge Transfer: All Those Bad Habits We Taught Ourselves
5.6 Conclusion
References
Part III: Focusing on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Chapter 6: Gender Diversity in Systems Engineering Product, Project, and Services Life Cycle Leadership: It’s Not Just Counting the Women
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Gender Systems in the System Life Cycle
6.2.1 Gender Diversity and Gender Systems
6.2.2 Organizations as Social Systems
6.2.3 Feminist Engineering Ethics and Systems Engineering
6.2.3.1 Engineering Ethics
6.2.3.1.1 Feminist Engineering Ethics: Interaction of Gender Systems and Engineering Systems
6.2.3.1.2 Motor Vehicles
6.2.3.1.3 Artificial Intelligence, Healthcare, and Medicine
6.2.3.1.4 Software Products and Simulators
6.3 Where Gender Lives in Systems: Socio-technical Complexity
6.3.1 Socio-technical Systems
6.3.2 Socio-technical Systems: Concept and Theory
6.3.3 Socio-technical Systems: Design Approach
6.3.4 Socio-technical Systems: Systems Engineering Context
6.3.5 Gender and Socio-technical Complexity
6.3.6 How Can Systems Engineering Leadership Embrace Socio-technical Complexity
6.4 Path Forward and Conclusion
References
Chapter 7: A Critical Analysis of the Systems Engineering Leadership Pipeline: Closing the Gender Gap
7.1 Introduction
7.1.1 Technical Background
7.2 Approach to the Systems Engineering Pipeline
7.2.1 The Gender Gap as a Quality Issue
7.2.2 Impact of the Gender Gap
7.2.3 Current Perspectives on the Gender Gap
7.2.4 Analysis Methodology
7.2.4.1 Data Availability
7.3 Defining the Systems Engineering Pipeline
7.3.1 Fundamental Requirements of the Systems Engineering Pipeline
7.3.2 Structure of the Systems Engineering Pipeline
7.4 Measuring the Performance of the Systems Engineering Pipeline
7.4.1 Impact of Pipeline Structure and Length on the Gender Gap
7.4.2 Contextualizing the Systems Engineering Gender Gap
7.5 Analysing the Systems Engineering Pipeline
7.6 Recommendations
7.6.1 Improving the Systems Engineering Pipeline
7.6.2 Controlling the Systems Engineering Pipeline
7.7 Conclusions
References
Part IV: Broadening Systems Engineering Leadership Facets
Chapter 8: Systems Leadership in the Transformation of Higher Education
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Higher Education Systems Thinking Landscape
8.3 Systems Leadership Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic
8.3.1 Physical Access to Higher Education
8.3.2 Distance Learning Adoption
8.3.3 Changing Priorities: Freeze, Grow, and Reimagine
8.4 Emerging Trends
8.5 A Path Forward
8.6 Conclusion
References
Chapter 9: An Ethical Leadership Approach for Complex Systems Integrated into the Systems Engineering Practice
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Exploring Leadership and Ethics
9.2.1 What Is Leadership?
9.2.2 Ethics, Software Engineering, and Dark Patterns
9.2.3 Diversity, Inclusion, Ethics, and Leadership
9.2.4 The 3Rs Model Explained
9.2.4.1 Project Example of the 3Rs Model: IMOLA
9.2.5 Summary of Leadership and Ethics Exploration
9.3 Developing a Holistic Definition of Leadership
9.3.1 Findings from Ethics Survey of Systems Engineering Practitioners
9.3.2 Survey Findings Related to the 3Rs Model
9.4 Conclusion
References
Chapter 10: The Role of Utilitarianism in Systems Engineering Leadership and System Design
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Engineering Influenced by Utilitarianism and Sensemaking
10.2.1 The Intersection of Utilitarianism and Engineering Ethics
10.2.1.1 The Intersection of Systems Engineering and Utilitarianism in System Design Decisions
10.2.1.2 The Intersection of Systems Engineering, Utilitarianism, and Sensemaking
10.2.1.2.1 The Intersection of Systems Engineering, Utilitarianism, and Sensemaking Model
10.2.1.2.2 Utilitarian Application for Systems Engineering Leadership
10.3 The Utilitarian Path Forward
References
Part V: Emerging Technological Change
Chapter 11: Building Systemic Resilience: The Role of Systems Leaders in Social-Ecological Systems
11.1 Introduction
11.2 Understanding Social-Ecological Systems
11.2.1 What Are the Stresses Faced by Social-Ecological Systems?
11.3 Understanding Resilience
11.3.1 Resilience Doesn’t Counteract Stresses to Build Stability; It Goes Further!
11.3.2 Resilience in Social-Ecological Systems
11.3.3 Why Should Systems Leaders Look at Resilience?
11.3.4 Resilience Capacities
11.4 Resilience Mindsets for a Systems Leader: Paradigms of Systemic Resilience
11.4.1 Embrace a Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) Mindset
11.4.2 SES Have Dynamic Limits in the Form of Carrying Capacity
11.4.3 Conflicts Offer an Opportunity for a “Decision”
11.5 Building Systemic Resilience in Social-Ecological Systems: Guidance
11.5.1 Build Diversity
11.5.2 Channel Resources into the Creation of Capital or Assets
11.5.3 Enhance Information Flows and Feedback and Uncover Hidden Costs or Value
11.5.4 Embrace Innovation and Invest in Experimentation
References
Chapter 12: Achieving Value Through Digital Engineering Transformation
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Defining Digital Engineering
12.2.1 New Digital Engineering Concepts
12.2.1.1 Models
12.2.1.1.1 Descriptive Models
12.2.1.1.2 Analytic Models
12.2.1.2 Model-Based Systems Engineering
12.2.1.3 Authoritative Source of Truth
12.3 Defining the Digital Engineering Strategy
12.3.1 Digital Engineering Strategy and Goals
12.3.1.1 The Digital Engineering Ecosystem
12.3.1.1.1 Data, Analyses, Models, ASOTs, Interconnections, and Analyses
12.3.1.1.2 Digital Engineering Environment
12.3.1.1.3 Information Technology Infrastructure
12.4 Planning for Digital Engineering Transformation
12.4.1 What Persists from As Is to To Be?
12.4.2 Digital Engineering Transformation Plan
12.4.3 Digital Engineering Transformation Goals and Objectives
12.4.4 Stakeholder Roles, Responsibilities, and Skillsets
12.4.4.1 Leadership Stakeholders
12.4.4.2 Management Stakeholders
12.4.4.3 Engineering Stakeholders
12.4.5 The Enterprise Data and Technology Schema
12.4.6 DE Transformation and Scale
12.5 Executing the Digital Engineering Transformation Plan
12.5.1 Selecting the Right DE Transformation Project
12.5.1.1 Think Big
12.5.1.2 Start Small
12.5.1.3 Learn and Evolve
12.5.2 Preparing to Execute the DE Transformation Project
12.5.3 DE Transformation Workforce
12.5.4 Lifecycle Management
12.5.4.1 Traditional System of Systems Lifecycle Management Process
12.5.5 DE Project Execution Prerequisite: Find/Assess the Data
12.5.6 Executing Digital Engineering Projects
12.5.6.1 Behind the Curtain
12.5.6.2 In Front of the Curtain
12.6 Sustaining Digital Transformation
12.6.1 Ongoing Responsibilities
12.6.2 Ongoing Success, Context, and Value
12.6.2.1 Example
12.7 Conclusion
References
Index
