{"id":3533,"date":"2014-11-13T09:03:47","date_gmt":"2014-11-13T17:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.plm.automation.siemens.com\/t5\/Teamcenter-Blog\/Integrated-Systems-Engineering-Secrets-to-Engineering-Your-Kids\/ba-p\/282511"},"modified":"2026-03-26T08:55:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T12:55:21","slug":"integrated-systems-engineering-secrets-to-engineering-your-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/integrated-systems-engineering-secrets-to-engineering-your-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Integrated Systems Engineering: Secrets to Engineering Your Kids"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Can a <a title=\"Systems Engineering Process and Architecture\" href=\"http:\/\/www.plm.automation.siemens.com\/en_us\/products\/teamcenter\/systems-engineering-software\/index.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">systems engineering <\/a>process&nbsp;help you achieve pain-free product development? Can you create a systems architecture to minimize your pain? Can you raise pain-free kids?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a young engineer out of college I was working with a group of senior \u2018grey hair\u2019 systems engineers that were working on missile guidance problems. These PhD-types ate lunch together so I got in on some interesting lunch-time conversations, including a discussion about issues they were having raising their teenagers. As engineers do, they picked up a napkin and started drawing\/developing a guidance\/systems engineering theory about raising\/engineering kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s what they came up with:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"413\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2021\/08\/SEing-Kids-1024x413.jpg\" alt=\"Systems Engineering applied to raising children \" class=\"wp-image-8912\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2021\/08\/SEing-Kids-1024x413.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2021\/08\/SEing-Kids-600x242.jpg 600w, https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2021\/08\/SEing-Kids-768x310.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2021\/08\/SEing-Kids-900x363.jpg 900w, https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2021\/08\/SEing-Kids.jpg 1079w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>Back of knapkin theory on SE&#8217;ing kids to reduce pain later<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The x axis is the age of the child, i.e. the child ages from left to right<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The y axis is the perceived intelligence level (from the child\u2019s perspective)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The arch-shaped curve is the perceived intelligence of the child from the child\u2019s perspective\u2014it gets greater as the child ages<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The U-shaped curve is the perceived intelligence of the parent from the child\u2019s perspective \u2013it gets smaller as the child ages<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The first cross-over is where the child\u2019s perceived intelligence exceeds that of the parent\u2014that\u2019s called teenagehood<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The second cross-over is where the parents perceived intelligence exceeds that of the child\u2014that\u2019s called adulthood<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The intersection area between the curves is known as pain<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The engineers at the table decided to apply guidance theory to adjust the child\u2019s perceived intelligence curve to minimize the parental pain area. So, they flattened the trajectory of the child\u2019s perceived intelligence curve minimizing pain by making sure the direction was set early (given guidance tenants, they agreed the child needed to pointed\/traveling the right direction by the time they were 4 years old\u2014otherwise serious pain might be involved).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Their theory: The earlier you get parenting right, the less pain you will have later. When my son came along, I tried to apply this theory \u2026 he\u2019s just now entering his teenage years, so I\u2019ll let you know how it worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ok, so what\u2019s the connection to systems engineering a product? Since time is marching on for any product development effort, like raising kids, you have a limited time to define the direction, establish the scope, and ensure the plans being followed.&nbsp;&nbsp;Failing to establish the direction and constraints early enough results in serious project pain (schedule, late nights, $$$, lawyers, etc.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This theory has the backing of some serious product thinkers, for example, Simon Ramo (that\u2019s the R in TRW) said, \u201call the really bad mistakes are made the first day of a project\u201d. Why such a big impact? That\u2019s because I don\u2019t know of any other discipline where even making no decision is a decision because everyone else is moving on with or without you. Detailed design decisions without advanced direction are like standing in the middle of a concrete pour and finding out mid-way through a project that you forgot to put in the rebar and set the forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So given that we have to&nbsp;do a good job of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.plm.automation.siemens.com\/en_us\/products\/teamcenter\/systems-engineering-software\/index.shtml#lightview%26uri=tcm:1023-206428%26title=Getting-Started-with-Systems-Engineering-White-Paper-32661%26docType=.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">systems engineering<\/a>, which entails creating the systems architecture needed to set the direction for a product, what are we doing to address it&nbsp;in the PLM solution space?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019re supporting the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.plm.automation.siemens.com\/en_us\/products\/teamcenter\/systems-engineering-software\/index.shtml#lightview%26uri=tcm:1023-5906%26title=Teamcenter%20for%20Systems%20Engineering%20-%20Teamcenter%20White%20Paper%20-%208492%26docType=.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">systems engineering process<\/a> by enabling you to integrate functions, interfaces, decisions, etc., into Teamcenter. You can establish the system architecture, the constraints, et al in the same place as the rest of the product knowledge. This will enable chunk-of-project reuse, proactive problem avoidance, and more robust products with fewer redesigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We will keep you apprised of our progress through this blog and other means. While executing this, we have a number of topics to cover with you so you can \u2018systems engineer\u2019 your organizations to take advantage of the integrated system engineering features when they arrive:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>When do you start systems engineering?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Justifying the value of avoiding future problems<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Pessimistic vs optimistic systems engineering<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Managing\/reusing decisions<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Keeping architects ahead of construction crews<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2026and more. We hope you\u2019ll join us for the systems engineering journey, and good luck with your kids!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>About the blogger:<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Mark Sampson is the product manager\/evangelist working on integrating systems engineering into the product development process. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The engineers at the table decided to apply guidance theory to adjust the child\u2019s perceived intelligence curve to minimize the parental pain area<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54001,"featured_media":7664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spanish_translation":"","french_translation":"","german_translation":"","italian_translation":"","polish_translation":"","japanese_translation":"","chinese_translation":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[16],"industry":[],"product":[],"coauthors":[507],"class_list":["post-3533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-model-based-systems-engineering"],"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2014\/11\/shutterstock_324288134-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54001"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3533"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8913,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3533\/revisions\/8913"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3533"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=3533"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=3533"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=3533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}