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The Successful Systems Engineer’s Toolbox
Published in Joseph Eli Kasser, Systems Engineering, 2019
There has been discussion on the traits and characteristics of system engineers and some organizational competency models have been documented (Kasser et al. 2013). Some system engineers, mostly from the meta-discipline camp (Section 2.1.6), describe system engineers as being ‘T’ shaped with some knowledge of all engineering disciplines and in-depth knowledge of one (e.g. Zonnenshain 2015). However, in the talent-seeking field, the definition of ‘T’ shaped is slightly different. in the talent-seeking field, the vertical stem of the ‘T’ is the foundation: an in-depth specialized knowledge in one or two fields. The horizontal crossbar refers to the complementary skills of communication (including negotiation), creativity, the ability to apply knowledge across disciplines, empathy (including the ability to see from other perspectives) and an understanding of fields outside one’s area of expertise (Brooks 2012).
How to Herd Cats: The Art of the Hacker Paradigm Leadership
Published in Darren Dalcher, Rethinking Project Management for A Dynamic and Digital World, 2022
T-shaped people have core expertise in a certain area (for example, UX design, software development, marketing and so on), as well as a broad range of additional skills, talents and interests. This mix of core and ancillary skills makes T-shaped people ideally suited for working in cross-functional team environments. These people can head up key aspects of projects by leading with their core expertise, playing to their strengths in design, programming, strategy or whatever their skills may be. Because they have a broader range of skills and talents to draw on, they can also slot in with and contribute to other parts of the project, standing in for other team members and various tasks as arise.
Design thinking is a way of thinking
Published in Teun den Dekker, Design Thinking, 2020
teacher Inge Rijnders observes that in practice students prefer to see each other as equals: ‘to see each other as equals is easier than having to check out everyone’s qualifications and weaknesses’. The ambition of a design team is to create an interdisciplinary team composed of T-shaped persons. That means that there is not only a sum total of the knowledge and skills of the individual team members as in multidisciplinary teams (1+1=2), but that team members also look for synergy in the knowledge and skills of the individual team members (1+1=3).
The use of digital games in academic maritime education: a theoretical framework and practical applications
Published in Maritime Policy & Management, 2023
About ten years ago Minors were introduced at the TU Delft, an academic education institute, to ensure that our academic students would receive a broader education and become better prepared for the more dynamic marketplace. A popular term for this is the T-shaped engineer Guest (1991), someone who can look beyond his domain and put his work in a broader perspective. It increases the potential to integrate knowledge and innovate. Important qualities, especially in today’s highly integrated world. However, to maintain the existing depth of knowledge, the Maritime Engineering education cancelled industry practices and reduced the experiments. Despite these best efforts, a loss was observed in the knowledge retention of our students by lecturers in later years. The contribution of practical experience to a broader education, beyond the practical experience, seems to be underestimated. A subject not often discussed in the literature. The available discussions indicate that practical experience may perform a key role in forming a frame of reference (Schunk 2012; Wenger 2011; Zimmerman 1983). This frame of reference is crucial as a background to anchor and integrate the lessons from courses. This background further facilitates knowledge retention by reducing the ‘newness’ of the materials studied by ensuring links to existing similar knowledge are created.
Employee Empowerment and HR Flexibility in Information Technology SMEs
Published in Journal of Computer Information Systems, 2023
Alexei Tretiakov, Tanya Jurado, Jo Bensemann
An important dimension of resource flexibility is flexibility in employee skills and behaviors,32,33 defined as the range of employee skills an organization can deploy. Thus, in the IT industry context, employees who are capable of learning new technologies, programming languages, and development frameworks can contribute to their organization’s resource flexibility in employee skills and behaviors. An important aspect is employees’ willingness to exercise their ability to learn and to behave in flexible ways.32,33 For example, an IT employee who heavily invested in learning a particular framework or technology, and acquired a reputation as an expert, may be quite capable of learning a new technology. However, such an employee may be unwilling to do so because switching to a new technology would result in loss of investment and status.34 Such a behavior would subtract from the organization’s resource flexibility in employee skills and behaviors. On the other hand, in the IT industry, workers with deep knowledge and skills in a particular domain who are also skilled enough and are willing to be productive working in broader related domains are known as “T-shaped” workers, and they are particularly valued.35,36 We argue that T-shaped workers are valued because they contribute to the organization’s flexibility in employee skills and behaviors.
Problem-based learning: student perceptions of its value in developing professional skills for engineering practice
Published in European Journal of Engineering Education, 2019
Úna Beagon, Dervilla Niall, Eabhnat Ní Fhloinn
In 2013, the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) began a consultation process to develop a new strategy for engineering education to meet industry’s needs, the purpose of which was to identify competencies, skills and qualities required of future graduates. The outcome was a T-shaped engineering graduate, with a broad knowledge base and ability to work within a diverse team, in addition to deep technical expertise in a particular area. Whilst it was agreed that engineering fundamentals were still a priority, communication skills, motivation, business acumen and curious learning capacity, ethical standards, critical thinking, risk assessment and persistence were all identified as necessary.