Strategies for system planning
+ An Engineer-it chapter managed by the Institution of Engineers in Scotland (www.engineers.scot)
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The UK Covid-19 Task Force A successful government project The development of an optical scanner (p22) How to develop an innovative product |
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An engineered outcome results from the use of a range of control strategies that are appropriate in situations of complex uncertainty. The strategies used have universal application in complex problem solving. It is not only engineers who use them: Scientists 'engineer' the development of a drug; professional engineers will engineer the design and development of an aircraft. Businesses are 'engineered' (or 're-engineered').
The strategies form the basis of a 'engineered process' that is used to control the risk of unsatisfactory outcomes.
Figure 1 shows some features of an engineered process.
Key issues are competence, i.e. the skills of those inolved and governance, i.e. how responsility, authority and accountabiliy are allocated.
Competence is shown as having two main components:
- Disciplinary expertise i.e. the abilities of those involved to carry out specific tasks. It is common to require expertise from several disciplines
- Ethos - the principles that guide the actions of the participants.
Whereas 'what you know' might be described in term of disciplinary expertise, ethos is 'how you think'.
Critical thinking may be the most important feature of an engineered process. Critical thinkers identify and use guiding principles that lead to engineered outcomes.
Deep collaboration within the project team with unswerving commitment to the project goals are also key features of an engineered process.
Closely related to commitment is the requirment that the process is underpinned by the highest levels of professional integrity.