Functional decomposition is a decision

Systems engineers do a task that is commonly known as functional decomposition.  This task starts at the very top of the definition of a system and breaks down all the functions required to support the product’s mission (use cases) into layers of finer and finer functions.  Functions are expressed as Verb-Object statements such as “Acquire [...]

Manage knowledge, not documents

I stopped thinking much about documents 20+ years ago.  I know that most business processes still demand them (stage-gate, systems engineering, new product development, government contracting, proposals, etc.).  I know that lots of effort is expended in maintaining document templates, filling in these templates with paragraph prose, prettifying them to match format requirements, vetting them [...]

A 3V Traceability Model

I’ve written numerous posts on decision-to-requirements traceability based on the fact that decisions are the creators and consumers of requirements.  Consistent with this, I use a 3V (or 3-Vee) model of traceability that is best represented by a 3-D model of 3 traceability Vee’s connected together. If you’ve done quite a bit of systems engineering [...]