Standardized Process as a Tool for Higher Level Systems Thinking

Standardized processes are being used to address three issues in engineering today: increasing system complexity; shifting demographics; and longer development cycles that result in a dearth of experiential learning for young engineers. There is obvious value in having engineers who can see the big picture and effectively broker design tradeoffs: engineers capable of systems thinking. However, what is the impact of standardized processes on the ability of teams of engineers to make these critical tradeoffs? This paper lays the groundwork for research investigating ways in which standardized process usage facilitates or hinders systems thinking within engineering teams—termed collaborative systems thinking.