Difference between revisions of "Enabling Individuals"

Latest revision as of 22:39, 18 November 2023

Lead Authors: Heidi Davidz, Dick Fairley, Contributing Authors: Alice Squires, Art Pyster

This knowledge area focuses on enabling an individual to perform SE and addresses the roles of individuals in the SE profession, how individuals are developed for and assessed in these roles, and what ethical behavior is expected of them. Once an individual is enabled to perform SE using the techniques described here, the individual can apply the knowledge found in Part 3, Systems Engineering and Management, about how to perform SE.

Part 5, Enabling Systems Engineering, to which this knowledge area belongs, explores how systems engineeringsystems engineering (SE) is enabled at three levels of organization: the businessbusiness or enterpriseenterprise, the team, and the individual. Ultimately, individuals perform SE tasks within a team or business.

For the sake of brevity, the term “business” is used to mean “business or enterprise” throughout most of this knowledge area. For a nuanced explanation of what distinguishes a business from an enterprise, see Enabling Systems Engineering.

Topics

Each part of the SEBoK is composed of knowledge areas (KAs]. Each KA groups topics together around a theme related to the overall subject of the part. This KA contains four topics:

Roles and Competencies discusses allocation of SE roles, which sets of competenciescompetencies correspond to particular roles, and what competency models are current in the SE world.
Assessing Individuals discusses how to determine the level of individual proficiency and quality of performance.
Developing Individuals explains how SE competency is acquired.
Ethical Behavior describes the ethical standards that apply to individuals and organizations.

Context

The following brief review of terms and concepts provides context for the topics in this knowledge area.

Individuals, Teams, Businesses, and Enterprises

The ability to perform SE resides in individuals, teams, and businesses. An expert systems engineer possesses many competencies at a high level of proficiency, but no one can be highly proficient in all possible competencies. Collectively, a team and a business might possess all needed competencies at a high level of proficiency. A business performs the full range of SE roles, may have dedicated functions to perform specific SE roles, and may have a strategy for combining individual, team, and business abilities to execute SE on a complex activity. Individuals within the business may be responsible for performing one or more roles.

For descriptions of SE roles and competencies from the literature, see Roles and Competencies.

Competency, Capability, Capacity, and Performance

The final execution and performance of SE is a function of competency, capability, and capacity. There is some complexity here. For example:

There is disagreement in the literature about whether the term competency applies to the individual level only, or can be correctly used at the team, project, and enterprise levels as well.
Capability encompasses not just human capital, but processes, machines, tools, and equipment as well. Even if an individual has an outstanding level of competency, having to perform within a limited timeframe might degrade the results. Capacity accounts for this.

Systems Engineering Competency

Competency is built from knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes (KSAA). What is inherent in an individual may be subsequently developed through education, training, and experience. Traditionally, SE competencies have been developed primarily through experience, but recently, education and training have taken on a much greater role.

SE competency must be viewed through its relationships to the systems life cycle, the SE discipline, and the domain in which the engineer practices SE.

Competency Models

SE competency models can be used to explicitly state and actively manage the SE competencies within in an organization.

Competency models for SE typically include:

technical KSAAs;
“soft” KSAAs such as leadership and communications;
KSAAs that focus on the domains within which SE is to be practiced;
a set of applicable competencies; and
a scale for assessing the level of individual proficiency in each competency (often subjective, since proficiency is not easily measured).

See Roles and Competencies for descriptions of publicly available SE competency models.

References

None.

< Previous Article | Parent Article | Next Article > SEBoK v. 2.9, released 20 November 2023

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-Ultimately, individuals do the [[Systems Engineering (glossary)]] ([[Acronyms|SE]]) tasks within a [[Team (glossary)]] or [[Business (glossary)]]/[[Enterprise (glossary)]].
+----
+'''''Lead Authors:''''' ''Heidi Davidz, Dick Fairley'', '''''Contributing Authors:''''' ''Alice Squires, Art Pyster''
+----
+This knowledge area focuses on enabling an individual to perform SE and addresses the roles of individuals in the SE profession, how individuals are developed for and assessed in these roles, and what ethical behavior is expected of them. Once an individual is enabled to perform SE using the techniques described here, the individual can apply the knowledge found in Part 3, [[Systems Engineering and Management]], about how to perform SE.
+Part 5, [[Enabling Systems Engineering]], to which this knowledge area belongs, explores how {{Term|Systems Engineering (glossary)|systems engineering}} (SE) is enabled at three levels of organization: the {{Term|Business (glossary)|business}} or {{Term|Enterprise (glossary)|enterprise}}, the team, and the individual. Ultimately, individuals perform SE tasks within a team or business.
+For the sake of brevity, the term “business” is used to mean “business or enterprise” throughout most of this knowledge area. For a nuanced explanation of what distinguishes a business from an enterprise, see [[Enabling Systems Engineering]].
 ==Topics==
-The topics contained within this knowledge area include:
+Each part of the SEBoK is composed of knowledge areas (KAs].   Each KA groups topics together around a theme related to the overall subject of the part. This KA contains four topics:
-*[[Roles and Competencies]]
+*[[Roles and Competencies]] discusses allocation of SE roles, which sets of {{Term|Competency (glossary)|competencies}} correspond to particular roles, and what competency models are current in the SE world.
-*[[Assessing Individuals]]
+*[[Assessing Individuals]] discusses how to determine the level of individual proficiency and quality of performance.
-*[[Developing Individuals]]
+*[[Developing Individuals]] explains how SE competency is acquired.
-*[[Ethical Behavior]]
+*[[Ethical Behavior]] describes the ethical standards that apply to individuals and organizations.
-In the [[Roles and Competencies]] article, the allocation of SE roles and the corresponding SE [[Competency (glossary)|Competencies (glossary)]] are discussed. Existing competency models are provided.  The article on [[Assessing Individuals]] discusses how to determine the level of individual proficiency and quality of performance.  Needed SE competencies should be developed in the individuals as discussed in [[Developing Individuals]].  Individuals are responsible for acting in an ethical manner as explored in [[Ethical Behavior]].
+==Context==
+The following brief review of terms and concepts provides context for the topics in this knowledge area.
-==Context==
 ===Individuals, Teams, Businesses, and Enterprises===
-The ability to perform SE resides in individuals, teams, and businesses/enterprises.  Existing literature provides lists of systems engineering [[Roles and Competencies]].  An expert systems engineer would possess many competencies at a high level of proficiency. No one would be highly proficient in all possible competencies, but the team and the business/enterprise might collectively have the capability to perform all needed competencies at a high level of proficiency.  A team/business/enterprise performs the full range of SE roles, with individuals within the team/business/enterprise being responsible for performing in one or more specific roles. A business may have dedicated functions to perform specific SE roles.  An enterprise may have a purposeful strategy for combining individual, team, and business abilities to execute SE on a complex project.
+The ability to perform SE resides in individuals, teams, and businesses. An expert systems engineer possesses many competencies at a high level of proficiency, but no one can be highly proficient in all possible competencies. Collectively, a team and a business might possess all needed competencies at a high level of proficiency. A business performs the full range of SE roles, may have dedicated functions to perform specific SE roles, and may have a strategy for combining individual, team, and business abilities to execute SE on a complex activity. Individuals within the business may be responsible for performing one or more roles.
+For descriptions of SE roles and competencies from the literature, see [[Roles and Competencies]].
 ===Competency, Capability, Capacity, and Performance===
-The discussion of SE competency, capability, capacity, and performance is complex.  The human aspect of competency may be considered a subset of capability.  Capability includes not just human capital, but processes, machines, tools, and equipment as well.  Even if an individual has an outstanding level of competency, being able to perform within a limited timeframe might stunt the results.  Capacity accounts for this.  The final execution and performance of SE is a function of competency, capability, and capacity.  This knowledge area focuses on individual competency.
+The final execution and performance of SE is a function of competency, capability, and capacity. There is some complexity here.
+For example:
+*There is disagreement in the literature about whether the term competency applies to the individual level only, or can be correctly used at the team, project, and enterprise levels as well.
+*Capability encompasses not just human capital, but processes, machines, tools, and equipment as well. Even if an individual has an outstanding level of competency, having to perform within a limited timeframe might degrade the results. Capacity accounts for this.
 ===Systems Engineering Competency===
-Competency is built from knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes ([[Acronyms|KSAA]]).  Certain aspects are inherent in individuals, but are subsequently developed through education, training, and experience.  Traditionally, SE competencies have been developed primarily through experience.  Recently, education and training has taken on a much greater role in the development of SE competencies.  SE competency must be viewed through its relationship to the systems life cycle, the SE discipline, and the domain where the engineer practices SE.  Competency models for SE typically include KSAAs that are both technical and "soft" (such as leadership and communications), as well as around the domains in which the SE will be practiced. A competency model typically includes a set of applicable competencies along with a scale for assessing the level of proficiency an individual possesses in each competency of the model. Those proficiency levels are often subjective and not easily measured.
+Competency is built from knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes (KSAA).  What is inherent in an individual may be subsequently developed through education, training, and experience. Traditionally, SE competencies have been developed primarily through experience, but recently, education and training have taken on a much greater role.
-===Competency Model Purposes===
-Individual competency models are typically used for three purposes:
-*Recruitment and Selection – Competencies define categories for behavioral-event interviewing, increasing the validity and reliability of selection and promotion decisions.
+SE competency must be viewed through its relationships to the systems life cycle, the SE discipline, and the domain in which the engineer practices SE.
-*Human Resources Planning and Placements – Competencies are used to identify individuals to fill specific positions and/or identify gaps in key competency areas.
-*Education, Training, and Development – Explicit competency models let employees know which competencies are valued within their organization.  Curriculum and interventions can be designed around desired competencies.
 ===Competency Models===
-No consensus on SE competencies and competency models has emerged in the community.  Many of the competency models available were developed for specific contexts or for specific organizations, and these models are useful within these contexts.  Large organizations that employ many systems engineers often have their own competency models tailored to their specific needs. Model users should be aware of the development method and context for the competency model they use, since some of the primary competencies for one organization might be different than some of those needed for another organization.
+SE competency models can be used to explicitly state and actively manage the SE competencies within in an organization.
-The list of competencies in existing models are not always intended to be fulfilled by one individual, but by groups of individuals.  Team competency is not a direct summation of the competency of the individuals on the team, since team dynamics and interpersonal issues complicate the combination of individual competencies at the team level.  [[Enabling Teams to Perform Systems Engineering]] and [[Enabling Businesses and Enterprises to Perform Systems Engineering]] address groupings of individuals to fulfill the elements of the SE competency models.
-===The Nature and Role of Systems Engineering Standards===
+Competency models for SE typically include:
-A major role of a profession is to standardize the terminology, measurement methods, and process methods used in national and international practice of the profession. The goal is to enable professionals, educators, and organizations to communicate internationally, and to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of professional practice.  The knowledge area [[Systems Engineering Standards]] provides comprehensive description of standards that are related to the practice of systems engineering.  As the systems engineering profession evolves, the corresponding competencies required to support the discipline also evolve.
+*technical KSAAs;
+*“soft” KSAAs such as leadership and communications;
+*KSAAs that focus on the domains within which SE is to be practiced;
+*a set of applicable competencies; and
+*a scale for assessing the level of individual proficiency in each competency (often subjective, since proficiency is not easily measured).
-===Bodies of Knowledge===
+See [[Roles and Competencies]] for descriptions of publicly available SE competency models.
-The definition of requisite SE competencies evolves as the body of knowledge evolves.  A body of knowledge, describing the organization and principal elements of a discipline, provides a foundation for a profession that supports curriculum development, certification and licensing, continuing professional education, and a code of ethics and professional conduct. The following bodies of knowledge have been influential in systems engineering:
-* Guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge, SWEBOK (IEEE)
-* Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, PMBOK (PMI)
-BKCASE is intended to provide such a body of knowledge for systems engineering.
 ==References==
-This article relies on limited sources.  Reviewers are requested to identify additional sources.
+None.
-===Citations===
-* IEEE Computer Society.  Guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK). http://www.computer.org/portal/web/swebok.
-* Project Management Institute.  A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) - Fourth Edition.  http://marketplace.pmi.org/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?GMProduct=00101095501.
-===Primary References===
-No primary references have been identified for version 0.5.  Please provide any recommendations on additional references in your review.
-===Additional References===
-No additional references have been identified for version 0.5.  Please provide any recommendations on additional references in your review.
 ----
-====Article Discussion====
+<center>[[Technical Leadership in Systems Engineering|< Previous Article]] | [[Enabling Systems Engineering|Parent Article]] | [[Roles and Competencies|Next Article >]]</center>
-[[{{TALKPAGENAME}}|[Go to discussion page]]]
+<center>'''SEBoK v. 2.9, released 20 November 2023'''</center>
-<center>[[Team Dynamics|<- Previous Article]] | [[Enabling Systems Engineering|Parent Article]] | [[Roles and Competencies|Next Article ->]]</center>
-==Signatures==
---[[User:Asquires|Asquires]] 15:09, 15 August 2011 (UTC)
---[[User:Dholwell|Dholwell]] 03:11, 13 September 2011 (UTC) core edit
 [[Category: Part 5]][[Category:Knowledge Area]]