Topic/Concept
My reading of Jon Holt’s Systems Engineering Demystified 2nd Edition (SED) raised many questions and had me reassessing my understanding of systems engineering based on my understanding of the discipline since my introduction to systems engineering in 1993 through my professional application of systems engineering applied to projects and systems thinking applied to processes until 2017 (retired). This discourse captures my thinking while reviewing SED and follows the sequence of my reading.
Section 1 Intro to SyE
It may NOT be argued that Systems Engineering (SyE) has been employed since time immemorial. Systems Engineering is a concept that was developed and described in the 20th century. Almost no one except for consultants and tool vendors would say that systems engineering was applied before the 20th century. Observing complex systems is Systems Science (SS), not engineering. Engineering is the application of pure science and applied science to solve problems as defined by people.
Once Mr. Holt advances to the 20th Century, he appropriately notes the creation of the term system engineering by Bell Laboratories but neglects to indicate that the timing is the first quarter of the century. Similarly, there is no indication that Systems Theory (ST) developed along side SyE with Bertalanffy doing work in Austria in the 1930’s through the ‘50’s but unpublished in English. (General systems theory - Oxford Reference) General System Theory: Foundations, Development, Applications. | JAMA Psychiatry | JAMA Network GST_A-Knowledge Domain-in-Engineering-Systems An Outline of General System Theory (1950)
The “main tenet of systems theory” may well have been stated by (Wilkinson, 2011) but was stated by others much earlier, for example:
- M’Pherson, P.K. 1974. “A perspective on systems science and systems philosophy.” Futures. Vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 219-39
- “Once an understanding of parts is acquired, an understanding of the whole can be achieved only if the relationships between the parts are understood.” Ackoff, R. The Future of Operational Research is Past. J Oper Res Soc 30, 93–104 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1057/jors.1979.22)
This is a shameless attempt to re-write the history of “systems thinking” and “systems theory” so that it appears that systems engineering came first.