Integrating Program Management and Systems Engineering

16CALLS TO ACTION

Transformational change often occurs during particularly turbulent periods in history. It may begin in small ways, but then expands as momentum builds and feeds on itself. Some might argue that key ingredients for a transformational stage are already heating up. Lyrics written 50 years ago illustrate the issues: “There's something happening here; what it is ain't exactly clear” (Stills, 1966). Corporate shareholders are challenging their organizations' leaders over strategies whose poor performance has weakened the companies. Taxpayers are revolting against higher taxes that persist despite lackluster public services and an unsustainable level of government waste and inefficiency. Many college graduates around the world have difficulty finding entry‐level jobs in their fields, and new entrants to the workforce are challenged by cultures, systems, and roles that remain unchanged in a faster‐paced, technology‐enabled world. Despite talk of collaboration and alignment, workers in business and government remain siloed, unable to break through multiple layers of barriers based on role, function, and structure. In some cases, workers are simply accepting the status quo and no longer pushing for the kind of positive change that can turn average organizations into extraordinary ones.

In engineering programs, all of these elements exist today, but are more quickly reaching a boiling point. Government leaders are realizing that their portfolios of engineering programs ...