As the engineering workforce ages, skills with long development periods are lost with
retiring individuals faster than are younger engineers developing the skills. Systems thinking is
one such skill. Recent research, (Davidz 2006), has shown the importance of experiential
learning in systems thinking skill development. However, an engineering career begun today has
fewer program experiences than in past decades because of extended program lifecycles and a
reduction in the number of new large-scale engineering programs. This pattern is clearly visible
in the aerospace industry, which (Stephens 2003) cites as already experiencing a systems
thinking shortage.
The ongoing research outlined in this paper explores systems thinking as an emergent
property of teams. Collaborative systems thinking, a term coined by the authors to denote teamlevel
systems thinking, may offer an opportunity to leverage and develop a skill in short supply
by concentrating on the team in addition to the individual.
This paper introduces the proposed definition for collaborative systems thinking, as
developed by the authors, and the outlines the structure and progress of ongoing case research
into the role of organizational culture and standard process usage in the development of
collaborative systems thinking
