Fighting Entropy!

The Art and Science of
Systems Engineering

Practical Systems Engineering

Applied Systems Engineering

Steve Nelson
(C) 2010

Table of Contents

1    INTRODUCTION
2    FORWARD   
2.1    KEY RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE CHIEF SYSTEMS ENGINEER   
2.1.1    Technical Management of the engineering process - Vision & Strategy   
2.1.2    SE Products - Owning and Embracing the Document Tree   
2.1.3    Processes and Procedures - Owning and promulgating good practices   
2.1.4    Tools and Methodologies - Enabling, but managing   
2.1.5    Team integration - coerce, cajole, and command the potential stovepipe engineering efforts: architecture, hardware, behavior, requirements, test, assembly, etc. into a synergistic whole.   
2.1.6    Growing your team   
2.1.7    Above all - Adult Supervision   

3    WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM - NEED ANALYSIS
3.1    DEFINING THE PROBLEM   
3.2    THE OBJECTIVE - TEASING OUT THE REAL NEED AND DEFINING "A" NOT "THE" SYSTEM   
3.3    THE METHODOLOGY  
3.3.1    Use Case Identification  
3.4    COMMENTS  

4    DESIGN DERIVATION - SOLUTION   
4.1    THE OBJECTIVE - DEFINING "THE" SYSTEM   
4.1.1    Design Derivation (Synthesis and Decomposition)   
4.2    THE METHODOLOGY   
4.2.1    Use Case Elaboration   
4.2.2    Documentation   
4.3    A TOOL   
4.3.1    SSD and EFT via Visio tool   
4.4    A WARNING ABOUT ANALYSIS PARALYSIS - OR - WHEN ARE WE DONE?   

5    REQUIREMENTS DERIVATION - SPECIFICATION   
5.1    THE OBJECTIVE - SPECIFYING THE FUNCTIONS AND PERFORMANCE OF COMPONENTS OF THE SYSTEM   
5.1.1    Hierarchy and Layers   
5.2    THE METHODOLOGY   
5.2.1    Requirement Writing   
5.2.2    The Specification   

6   DESIGN SYNTHESIS - INTEGRATION OF OBJECTIVES AND CONSTRAINTS   

7    DESIGN SYNTHESIS - CONSTRAINTS   
7.1    THE OBJECTIVE - DOCUMENTING FUNDAMENTAL AND DERIVED CONSTRAINTS   
7.2    THE METHODOLOGY   

8    WHAT TIME IS IT? PROGRAM LIFECYCLE   
8.1    CEREMONY!   

9    IMPLEMENT APPROVED DESIGN   

10    TEST APPROVED DESIGN   
10.1    REQUIREMENTS VERIFICATION & SYSTEM VALIDATION   
10.1.1    Knowledge Flow   

11    MISSION SUCCESS - SUMMARY  

12    APPENDIX   
12.1    SPECIFICATION OUTLINE   
12.2    ANNOTATED OPERATIONS CONCEPT DOCUMENT OUTLINE   
12.2.1    Annotated Operations Concept Document Scenario Capture Outline   
12.3    INTERFACE CONTROL DOCUMENT OUTLINE   
12.4    ANNOTATED SEMP OUTLINE   
SANelson - SE Home
from Wikipedia

Tilting at windmills is an English idiom which means attacking imaginary enemies, or fighting unwinnable or futile battles. The word "tilt", in this context, comes from jousting.
The phrase originated in the novel Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes. The phrase is sometimes used to describe confrontations where adversaries are incorrectly perceived. The phrase is sometimes used to describe courses of action that are based on misinterpreted or misapplied heroic, romantic, or idealistic justifications.
In the novel, Don Quixote fights windmills that he imagines to be giants. Quixote sees the windmill blades as the giant's arms, for instance. Here is the relevant portion of the novel:
Just then they came in sight of thirty or forty windmills that rise from that plain. And no sooner did Don Quixote see them that he said to his squire, "Fortune is guiding our affairs better than we ourselves could have wished. Do you see over yonder, friend Sancho, thirty or forty hulking giants? I intend to do battle with them and slay them. With their spoils we shall begin to be rich for this is a righteous war and the removal of so foul a brood from off the face of the earth is a service God will bless."
"What giants?" asked Sancho Panza.
"Those you see over there," replied his master, "with their long arms. Some of them have arms well nigh two leagues in length."
"Take care, sir," cried Sancho. "Those over there are not giants but windmills. Those things that seem to be their arms are sails which, when they are whirled around by the wind, turn the millstone."


I hope advocating for Systems Engineering is not "tilting at windmills", though at times I fear it is.  -Steve

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Steve