Agenda:
• Researcher Introduction
• Motivation
• Research Questions
• Expected Contributions to Industry
• How You Can Help
• Timeline for CompletionLean Advancement Initiative (LAI), National Defense
Science and Engineering Fellowship (NDSEG), AIAA Fellowshi

Twomey Lamb, Caroline

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Researcher:Caroline Twomey Lamb (cmtwomey@mit.edu)Advisor:Dr. Donna H. Rhodes (rhodes@mit.edu)Committee:Prof. Deborah Nightingale   Prof. Annalisa Weigel             Dr. Donna RhodesResearch Contribution:Strategies for improving engineering processes and efficiently leveraging social assets.Publications:C.T. Lamb and D.H. Rhodes (2007). “Promoting Systems Thinking Through Alignment of Culture and Process: Initial results.” 5th Annual Conference on Systems Engineering Research (CSER), Hoboken, NJ.C.T. Lamb and D.H. Rhodes (2007). “Promoting Systems Thinking Through Alignment of Culture and Process: The lean link.” LAI Annual Conference, Cambridge, MD. C.T. Lamb and D.H. Rhodes (2007). “Standardized Process as a Tool for Higher Level Systems Thinking.” International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) 2007 International Symposium, San Diego, CA.C.T. Lamb and D.H. Rhodes (2008). “Collaborative Systems Thinking: Towards and understanding of team-level systems thinking”, 6th Conference on Systems Engineering Research, Redondo Beach, CA.D.H. Rhodes, C. T. Lamb and D.J. Nightingale (2008). “Empirical Research on System Thinking and Practice in the Engineering Enterprise”, IEEE International Systems Conference, Montreal, Canada.Collaborative Systems Thinking:The role of culture and process in promoting higher-level systems thinking within aerospace teamsResearch Timeline12-2006 6-2007 12-2007 6-2008 12-2008 1-2009In-Depth Literature ReviewGenerals and Thesis ProposalCase Study Field ResearchPublish ResultsFinish Thesis, Publish Results Pilot Interviews Team norms Documented tasks and methodsOrganizational CultureStandardized  Technical ProcessEspoused beliefsVision statementsUnderlying assumptionsStrategy for standardizationSocial networksProcess flow maps, org -chartsCulture Standardized ProcessCollaborative Systems ThinkingTeamExisting TheoryManned Fighter Program Starts by DecadeMotivationPilot Interview ResultsCollaborative Systems ThinkingResearch Framework Ongoing Case StudiesWhat aspects of an organization’s culture and standard technical process enable team-level, or collaborative, systems thinking?Use of multiple thinking stylesLeadership training for managersSocially intelligently constructed teams Product orientation solidifies team objectivesEngineering culture is its own worst enemyEffective communication is necessary Normative design processTeams produce productsComponent ComplexityEmergenceInterrelationshipsA method and framework for describing and understanding the interrelationships and forces that shape system behavior. (Senge 2006)A framework for systems with four basic ideas: emergence, hierarchy, communication and control. Human activity concerns all four elements.  Natural and designed systems are dominated by emergence. (Checkland 1999)A method of placing the systems in its context and observing its role within the whole. (Gharajedaghi 1999)A skill to see the world as a complex system and understanding its interconnectedness. (Sterman 2000)A skill of thinking in terms of holism rather than reductionism. (Ackoff 2004)Context WholesCollaborative systems thinking is an emergent behavior of teams results from the interactions of team members and utilizing a variety of thinking styles, design processes, tools and communication media to consider the system, its components, interrelationships, context, and dynamicstoward executing systems design. (Lamb 2008)Systems thinking skills are in short supply.  Experience is important in skill development.  Experienced employees are retiring.  Younger employees are finding fewer learning opportunities.  Concentrating on teams offers way to leverage aggregate experience and knowledge.Organizational culture and technical process are recurring themes in the literature.  Both impact team interactions and group information processing.Pilot interview validated the key research themes and added more detailed direction towards exploring each construct.A framework for comparing cultural and process alignment  was developed.  This framework aided in structuring case study interview and survey questions.  Systems thinking is utilizing modal elements to consider the componential, relational, contextual, and dynamic elements of the system of interest.(Davidz 2006) Team Thinking (Salas and Fiore 2004)1. Group processing of information through recall and interpretation2. Dealing with collective knowledge as opposed to shared knowledgeDesign Thinking (Dym et al 2005)1. Design as a social process2. Think and communicate using design languages3. Utilize divergent and convergent thinking stylesExpected Outcomes1. An operation definition of collaborative systems thinking2. Heuristics for enabling collaborative systems thinking3. Descriptive theory of collaborative systems thinking4. Knowledge to improve workforce development initiatives, process tailoring and team composition

Collaborative Systems Thinking: The Role of Culture and Process in Promoting Higher-level Systems Thinking within Aerospace Teams

lean.mit.edu © 2007 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCollaborative Systems Thinking:The role of culture and process in promoting higher-levelsystems thinking within aerospace teamsDoctoral Candidate: Caroline Twomey LambCommittee: Prof. Debbie Nightingale (Chair); Prof.Annalisa Weigel, and Dr. Donna RhodesResearch Sponsorship: Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI), National DefenseScience and Engineering Fellowship (NDSEG) , AIAA Fellowship1-23-08 LAI Research Committee© 2007 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCaroline Twomey Lamb 2Agenda• Researcher Introduction• Motivation• Research Questions• Expected Contributions to Industry• How You Can Help• Timeline for Completion1-23-08 LAI Research Committee© 2007 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCaroline Twomey Lamb 3Researcher Introduction• Caroline Twomey Lamb– S.B. Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2003– S.M. Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2005• Research Interests– Propulsion– Systems engineering– Understanding how good design happens– Practical execution of engineering• Experience– Composites manufacturing and testing– Fan design risk mitigation– Wind tunnel test design and execution– Numerical methods (e.g. Monte Carlo analysis, MISES)• Industry Involvement– AIAA Student Liaison to Board of Directors– AIAA Public Policy Committee– AIAA Young Professional Committee– AIAA Diversity Taskforce1-23-08 LAI Research Committee© 2007 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCaroline Twomey Lamb 4Aerospace Industry is Facing aSkills Crisis• 25% of industryeligible forretirement withinnext 5 years(Gathering Storm 2005)• Key competencieslost with eachretirement• Systems thinkingskill shortage(Stephens 2003)Engineering Demographics in the US(Future US Space Workforce 2005)N. Augustine and The Committee on Prospering in the Global Economy of the 21st Century. Rising Above the GatheringStorm. Technical report, National Academies, 2005.D. Black, D. Hastings, and the Committee on Meeting the Workforce Needs for the National Vision for Space Exploration.Issues Affecting the Future of the U.S. Space Science and Engineering Workforce: Interim report, 2006.R. Stephens. Ensuring Aerospace Skills of the Future. In Proc. AIAA/ICAS International Air and Space Symposium andExposition: The Next 100 Years, Dayton, OH, August 2003.1-23-08 LAI Research Committee© 2007 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCaroline Twomey Lamb 5Fewer Opportunities for System-Level Skill Development• Fewer program starts– Manned fighters– Commercial aircraft– Manned space vehicles• Longer development times– Fewer programs experiencedin career– Impact career development• Reduction in R&D budgets– Defense– NASA aeronauticsManned Fighter Program Starts by Decade (Murman et al 2002)012345671960 1970 1980 1990 2000Decade Programs StartsManned Spacecraft Program Starts by Decade (Neal et al 1995)E. Murman et.al. Lean Enterprise Value: Insights from MIT's Lean Aerospace Initiative.Palgrave, New York, NY, 2002.V. Neal, C. Lewis, and F. Winter. Spaceflight. Macmillan, New York, NY, 1995.1-23-08 LAI Research Committee© 2007 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCaroline Twomey Lamb 6Importance of Teams andSystems Thinking• Engineering is socio-technical activity• Design occurs at team level– Technical, policy and demographic pressures to use teams– Multidisciplinary teams now common early in design• Understanding systems thinking at the team levelbecomes importantLogistical Complexity Physical Complexity– Large number ofcomponents– Static complexity:  piecesfitting together– Dynamic complexity:Interactions, emergentbehavior– Systems as hierarchy ofcomponents– Maintaining awareness of‘whole’– Complex interfaces– Opportunities at interfaces– Complexity in inter- andintra- team interactionsDesign Space Complexity– Exploration of designspace– Requirements negotiation– Identification of ‘sweetspots’ within design space1-23-08 LAI Research Committee© 2007 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCaroline Twomey Lamb 7Research QuestionsI. What are the empiricallygeneralized traits of systemsthinking teams within the contextof their supporting organizations?II. What observed mechanismscorrelate with team-level systemsthinking?EngineeringTeamsStructuralProcess1-23-08 LAI Research Committee© 2007 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCaroline Twomey Lamb 8Systems Thinking withinEngineering TeamsPilot InterviewsWhat is systems thinking?What is collaborative systems thinking?   Systems thinking is utilizing modal elements to consider the   componential, relational, contextual, and dynamic elements of the   system of interest     (Davidz, 2006)  Collaborative systems thinking is an emergent behavior of teams  resulting from the interactions of team members and utilizing a  variety of thinking styles, design processes, tools, and languages  to consider systems attributes, interrelationships, context and  dynamics towards executing systems design.      (Lamb, 2008)Design TheoryTeam ThinkingTeam CompositionH. Davidz. Enabling Systems Thinking to Accelerate the Development of Senior Systems Engineers. PhD thesis,Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2006.C. Lamb Systems Thinking as an Emergent Team Property: Ongoing research into the enablers and barriers of team-level systems thinking. IEEE Systems Conference, Toronto, Canada, April 2008 (forthcoming)1-23-08 LAI Research Committee© 2007 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCaroline Twomey Lamb 9Research Framework• Four constructs to frame inquiry– Team– Standard Technical Process– Culture• Organizational culture• Engineering culture• Team norms and behavior– Collaborative systems thinking• Use of Mixed Qualitative/Quantitative Research Methods– Techniques and tools borrowed from social science– Similar to past LAI, Aero-Astro, and ESD theses– Uses qualitative and quantitative data types to describe systemsthinking within teamsMap to enablers from pastresearch on systemsthinking• Individual Characteristics• Experiential Learning• Supportive Environment• Systems thinking1-23-08 LAI Research Committee© 2007 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCaroline Twomey Lamb 10Expected Contribution to Field1. An operational definition characterizing team-level systems thinking• New term: Collaborative Systems Thinking (CST)• New way for conceptualizing systems thinking• Implications for training/workforce development and skill deployment2. A set of heuristics for enabling CST• Context framed effective practices• Grounded in observations of aerospace teams, linked to current industrypractices3. Descriptive theory explaining influence of organizational culture andstandard technical processes in enabling CST• Explanatory theory based on observations• Links team context to CST• Identify future areas of research towards forming prescriptive theory4. Research outcomes may influence:• Workforce development• Design procedures for fielding large-scale complex systems• Enterprise architecture1-23-08 LAI Research Committee© 2007 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCaroline Twomey Lamb 11Summary of Pilot InterviewsSummary of key point from six structured interviews and dozens of unstructuredconversations• Effective communication is necessary– Good communication uses the multiple language of design (sketches, equations, models,simulations, etc)– Evidence supports role of information sketching in improving early communication andimproving final design• Use of multiple thinking styles: convergent and divergent– As problem solvers, engineers excel at convergent thinking– Divergent thinking predicated on culture that promotes early critical discussion without fearof criticism• Product orientation solidifies team objectives– Clear goals enable better communication and teamwork– Exciting, motivating goals, get people to think and act outside of the box• Engineering culture is its own worst enemy– Engineering archetypes affirm individuals, technology considerations over social, andprocrastination– Norms limit communication and result in schedule pressure• Culture and process are important elements in CST: Validation of research direction1-23-08 LAI Research Committee© 2007 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCaroline Twomey Lamb 12How You Can ‘Help Me HelpYou’• Case-based research• Require 15-20 cases to explore phenomena of collaborativesystems thinking• Deadline of July/August for completion of case workCase Requirements• Aerospace teams• Multiple disciplines– E.g. structures, systems, electrical,mechanical, aerodynamic• Design stage– Conceptual design– Detail design• Espoused systems thinking capability• Industry Sector– Commercial– Space– Military– General Aviation• Systems levelCase Execution• Individual Case Timeline• Day 1– Introduce myself and research– Brief presentation/Q&A session– Team survey• Day 2– Interviews with team members• Day 3– Complete team interviews– Manager/supervisor interviews• Maximum 2 hour time commitment/individual• Multiple cases in one week if at sameorganization and location• Follow up at later date to share results1-23-08 LAI Research Committee© 2007 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCaroline Twomey Lamb 13Questions\Comments?

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Collaborative Systems Thinking: The Role of Culture and Process in Promoting Higher-level Systems Thinking within Aerospace Teams

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