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Appreciative Methods Applied to the Assessment of Complex Systems
Author(s) -
Watson Michael,
Anway Randall,
McKinney Dorothy,
Rosser Larri Ann,
MacCarthy John
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
incose international symposium
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2334-5837
DOI - 10.1002/j.2334-5837.2019.00614.x
Subject(s) - complex system , complexity management , system of systems , computer science , perspective (graphical) , management science , system of systems engineering , systems engineering , data science , software engineering , artificial intelligence , systems design , engineering , management , economics
Complex systems have characteristics that challenge traditional systems engineering processes and methods. These characteristics have been defined in various ways. INCOSE has previously identified characteristics of complex systems and potential methods to deal with complexity in system development. The purpose of this paper is to provide definitions and describe distinguishing characteristics of complexity using example systems to illustrate approaches to assessing the extent of complexity. The paper applies Appreciative Inquiry to identify and assess complex system characteristics. The characteristics are used to examine several different examples of systems to illuminate areas of complexity. These examples range from seemingly simple systems to complicated systems to complex systems. Different tiers of complexity are identified as a result of the assessment. The paper also identified and introduces topics on managing complexity and the integrating system perspective that represent new directions for the engineering of complex systems. The Appreciative Inquiry approach provides a method for systems engineering practitioners to more readily identify complexity when they encounter it, and to deal more effectively with this complexity once it has been identified.