Agile SE Part Two: What’s Your Problem?
Agile reduces reliance on requirements and emphasizes understanding and meeting stakeholder needs. What does that look like?
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Agile SE Part One: What is Agile, Anyway?
Agile is a relatively new approach to software development based on the Agile Manifesto and Agile Principles. This overview prepares us to dive into how we can apply this approach to systems engineering.
The Operations Concept: Developing and Using an OpsCon
You’re probably familiar with the ConOps, learn about its little brother, the OpsCon. An OpsCon is a valuable SE artifact that can contribute to the success of your system development effort.
Agile SE Part Zero: Overview
“Agile” is the latest buzzword in systems engineering. It has a fair share of both adherents and detractors, not to mention a long list of companies offering to sell tools, training, and coaching. Dive into a thoughtful, reasoned discussion about when and how agile can work for systems engineering projects.
DoD re-affirms importance of HSI in acquisition policy overhaul
The US Department of Defense is overhauling it’s acquisition policy from a stale, process-driven approach to a new, outcome-driven approach. The new concept is called the Adaptive Acquisition Framework (AAF). Its goal is to remove bureaucracy and give government program managers more flexibility to adapt to the needs of their particular acquisition.
Learn from the mistakes of others
he problem with being too busy to read is that you learn by experience… i.e. the hard way. By reading, you learn through others’ experiences, generally a better way to do business…
General James Mattis
Board man gets paid
Pro basketball player Kawhi Leonard found his niche as “The Board Man”. What’s your niche?
Diversity in engineering careers
We’ve come a long way. It’s never been a better time to enter the workforce as a woman/person of color/LGBTQ/etc. Diversity in the workforce and leadership of engineering companies is on the rise, barriers are falling, and the value of diversity is being recognized. And yet, we still have so far to go.
The Swiss cheese model: Designing to reduce catastrophic losses
The vast majority of catastrophes are created by a series of factors that line up in just the wrong way, allowing seemingly-small details to add up to a major incident. The Swiss cheese model is a great way to visualize this and is fully compatible with systems thinking. Understanding it will help you design systems which are more resilient to failures, errors, and even security threats.
Thoughts on “A Message to Garcia”
“A Message to Garcia” is a brief essay on the value of initiative and hard work written by Elbert Hubbard in 1898. It is often assigned in leadership courses, particularly in the military. There are a number of interpretations and potential lessons to be extracted from this story. It’s important that developing leaders find the valuable ideas.