Model-Based System Architecture, 2nd Edition

23Soft Skills

The fact that good communication and collaboration are crucial for a successful project is truly nothing new. It is the essence for any successful organization. A prosperous enterprise brings people together and creates an environment of good cooperation and appreciative togetherness. Especially in times of ever‐increasing complexity and globalization, humans and their collaboration are often the decisive factor for success or failure.

These are all truisms and known for decades. And also for decades, the creation of an collaborative environment for people is one of the major challenges for any organization. People are different regarding their personality traits, social graces, communication, language, personal habits, education, and friendliness. That means: beyond the occupational requirements of a job, which are often called hard skills, there are other important skills a person should have that are related to the interaction and communication with others. These so‐called soft skills are significantly influenced by a person's knowledge of human nature, socialization, feelings, emotions, empathy, personal insights, and cultural factors.

System architects in particular have special challenges in this regard, since their typical activities requires them to communicate with many, very different stakeholders (see also Chapter on architecture stakeholders). They have to understand and clarify requirements, they have to be able to impart concepts and solutions, they ...