More on the subject from our first post… Here’s a paper by The MITRE Corporation in a recent issue of the International Test and Evaluation Association (ITEA) journal. It talks of the importance of an integrated approach to Systems Engineering and T&E. This requires effective communication on every level.
An internet search for “miscommunication,” “Systems Engineering” and “T&E,” provided disturbing results. The changing role of systems engineering/T&E we are discussing in our first post points to communication as key for all current and potentially new customers. Effective communication is perhaps no more critical than in international business. We need to maintain (1) a deep understanding of process and policy changes for our international customers, and (2) the capability to adapt to meet the same requirements in new ways. That is quite a balancing act.
How can we maintain effective communication in a climate where both US and international governments are changing their approaches to systems engineering and T&E?
How can we be flexible enough to respond a customer’s changing direction as we implement a rigid/structured systems engineering process?
If we are asked, with some sense of urgency, to make major changes in how we all think of systems engineering and the T&E process, how can we avoid becoming part of the risk instead of part of the new solution?
Comments on how best to address this on an international level are welcome!
Todd
