Communication is on everyone’s list of crucial skills for success in any endeavor. In the field of systems engineering, a number of studies and competency models include communication and its component skills as important and often neglected keys to professional development. The definition of systems engineering calls on us to …

We learn through experience. This was the main concept that stuck with me after completing the INCOSE Institute for Technical Leadership. And as I look back at my first job and the environment in which I worked, I realize that it was those early experiences that developed me into the …

At a small company in Illinois in the early 90s, Steve Cash was given a lot of leash. As a 20-something fresh out of college with a degree in electrical engineering, this was heady stuff. The company did prototype engineering with a focus on automotive fuel injection and ignition systems. …

One of the most important—and often overlooked—aspects of good systems engineering is first principles thinking. In an excellent article on first principles thinking in his Farnam Street blog, Shane Parrish discusses first principles thinking in the context of Julia Child’s French cooking. Arguing that what made her extraordinary television show …