Re-evaluating systems engineering concepts using systems thinking

TLDR

Human success often relies on simple, repeatable processes, and the striking similarities across diverse fields suggest a general process—abstracted as the SIMILAR Process—that underlies human thinking. The study applies the SIMILAR Process to redescribe requirements discovery and system design processes. Applying the SIMILAR Process successfully redescribed the requirements discovery and system design processes.

Abstract

Humans (individually, on teams, and in organizations) can follow simple processes to increase their probability of success. Many authors, both technical and nontechnical, have described processes for doing various things like designing a system, attaining business excellence, and solving personal and professional problems. The amazing similarities in these diverse processes suggest that there is a general process that might be closely related to human thinking. This general process was abstracted into the SIMILAR Process. This paper shows how the SIMILAR Process was used to help redescribe the requirements discovery process and system design process.