Integrating Program Management and Systems Engineering

AFTERWORD: TOWARD AN INTEGRATED FUTURE

The Case for Integration

The basic premise of this book is that better program management and systems engineering integration, including more effective decision making, collaborative work, and information sharing, will lead to high‐performing programs. The book addressed this in the three main parts:

• Part I made the case for why the reader should be concerned about integration between the program management and systems engineering disciplines.
• Part II described in greater detail what to do to increase integration between the program management and systems engineering disciplines.
• Part III addressed how to make integration a reality in programs by creating sustained change toward a new way of working together.

The findings from the program management and systems engineering integration research are documented in the book, making the case that this integration is important and there are a number of actions that can be taken to increase its impact in organizations.

New Insights Gained Along the Way

There is a saying, “You don't know what you know until you try to write it down.” That was certainly confirmed during the course of writing this book. The underlying research findings revealed much about integration. The writing process quickly identified the areas that were not well‐posed, relied on fuzzily defined concepts, or just lacked a sufficient knowledge base. A number of those gaps were filled along the way to the completed manuscript. ...