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Technical Report

Technical Leadership Development Program – Year 4

    Human Capital Development

Report Number: SERC-2013-TR-013-4
Publication Date: 2013-02-28
Project: Developing Systems Engineering Technical Leadership
Principal Investigators:
Dr. Valentin Gavito

Co-Principal Investigators:

Abstract

In 2009, the Defense  Acquisition  University  (DAU)  contracted  with  the  Systems  Engineering  Research Center (SERC) for Research Task 4 (RT;4) to conduct research and development for a  proposed Systems Engineering (SE) technical leadership course (SYS 350) to accelerate technical  leadership development of Systems Planning, Research, Development, and Engineering (SPRDE)  senior  level  systems  engineers.  The  RT;4  project  developed  a  prototype  leadership  course,  designated  by  DAU  as  SYS350,  that  is  comprised  of  three  5;day  course  modules  or  lenses  designated  as  the  SYS350A  Systems  lens,  the  SYS350B  Business  lens,  and  the  SYS350C Enterprise lens. 

In  Year  2  of  the  RT;4  task,  the  SERC  research  team  developed  the  prototype  5;day  course  module for the SYS350A course module or lens. Two SYS350A Systems lens pilot courses were  conducted  resulting  in  student  feedback  evaluation  of  the  course  and  the  instructors.  The  SYS350A  feedback  provided  the  foundation  for  subsequent  SYS350B  and  SYS350C  course  research and development. In Year 3 of  the RT;4  task,  the SERC  team  revised portions of  the  baseline SYS350A course prototype and conducted a second SYS350A student pilot, developed  prototypes SYS350B and SYS350C modules and conducted two 350B and two 350C pilots.  

As a  result  of  the analysis  of  feedback  data  compiled  over  the  course  of  seven  SYS  350  pilot  modules, seven recommendations were developed by the SERC RT4 research team to support  transition of the prototype SYS 350 course to DAU.  
  1. Student  Course  Expectations  and  Cohort  Size:    The  recommended  cohort  size  should range from twenty to twenty;five students.
  2. Course Development Approach: An Objective or Focus Area approach is recommended for initial course prototyping.  A Seminar or Plenary approach is recommended for post; prototype refinements and sustainment.
  3. Technical;Behavioral  Course  Content  Ratio and Integration:  A  30%   Leadership Thread; Technical course content ratio is a recommended starting point.
  4. Group  Project:  Technical  leadership  simulations  requiring  decision  and  illustrating consequence are  recommended as  the Group  Project  for  refinements  to all  three  SYS 350 prototype modules.
  5. SYS350A Readiness:  The prototype SYS350A is ready for transition to DAU.
  6. SYS350B Readiness: The prototype SYS350B course is in need of a design iteration and third student pilot trial.
  7. SYS350C Readiness: The prototype SYS350C course is in need of a design iteration and third student pilot trial.

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