What is a metamodel? The English prefix “meta” comes directly from the Greek meaning “beyond” or “after.” That has been extended in English usage to mean “about,” connoting a higher level of abstraction. Thus, “meta-cognition” is “thinking about thinking” and a metamodel is a model of a model. Why have …

Mark Simons once found himself sitting in a circle at his then 8-year-old daughter’s yoga class. Participants went around and introduced themselves, explaining what they did for a living. Realizing that no one in the room would be likely to know about systems engineering, Simons thought quickly about how to …

Grappling with complexity is a challenging task. But that is the world of systems engineering. The problems we face are complex, and they demand complex solutions. Managing that complexity in a way that solves the complex problem while keeping all of the aspects of the problem and potential solutions visible …

The systems engineering tool “Analysis of Alternatives,” or AoAs, impacts a broad range of concepts in systems engineering. In my experience, the inception of a project revolves around smart people—often program managers, technical directors, or business developers—discussing what they’ve heard or read or seen as an opportunity to do something …