Toward ‘satisficing’ creativity effort within System of Systems Engineering (SoSE) management

ABSTRACT

Systems vary based on a variety of different dimensions including the level of complexity. Some systems are simple, some systems are complicated, some systems are complex, and there are even systems that can become chaotic. As the level of system complexity increases, the amount of creativity effort applied also increases. At the complexity level, the boundaries are not always clearly defined, and there could be multiple integrated constituents that are dynamic autonomous agents sharing one common objective, together comprising a system of systems. Not only does the level of creativity need to change when dealing with system of systems, the method of managing that creativity effort needs to change as well. In dealing with creativity at the system of systems level, optimisation is not always possible, and ‘satisficing’ may be necessary.

KEYWORDS:

• Optimising
• ‘satisficing’
• creativity effort
• system of systems (SoS) management
• system complexity

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. Rosemary Hallo for the illustrations in Figure 6

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Leonie Hallo

Leonie Hallo is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Adelaide and a Co-director of the Complex Systems Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab (CSIEL). Leonie holds a PhD in psychology from the University of Adelaide (Gold Star Award). She has been a psychologist in private practice for many years specialising in coping with cancer. She has also been a consultant to public and private organisations across fields including leadership training and development, assessments of organisational climate and reporting/recommendations, support in redundancy, career guidance, 360-degree feedback and executive development. Leonie has supervised almost thirty doctoral programs in Australia and throughout Asia in areas relating to organisational behaviour, supply chain management and entrepreneurship. She is also a key note speaker and reviewer for several international conferences and journals in the complexity leadership and management field. Her current primary research interests are complex project management, cancer treatment and the relationship between leadership and emotion.

Alex Gorod

Alex Gorod is a Professor at the University of Adelaide and an Adjunct Associate Professor at Zicklin School of Business, City University of New York. Alex is teaching courses in the areas of complex project management, leadership, systems engineering, engineering management, systems thinking, and operations management. He is a recipient of multiple awards, including the Fabrycky-Blanchard Award for Excellence in Systems Engineering Research and Robert Crooks Stanley Fellowship in Engineering Management. Alex’s primary research focus is on management of complex adaptive systems. He is an author of multiple publications, including numerous scientific articles, book chapters, and patents. In addition, Alex co-edited a book, titled “Case Studies in System of Systems, Enterprise Systems, and Complex Systems Engineering.” His research appeared in such journals as International Journal of Project Management, IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine, IEEE Systems Journal, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Transportation Research Record, Supply Chain Management: an International Journal, and Systems Research and Behavioral Science, among others. Alex holds a PhD in Engineering Management from Stevens Institute of Technology and actively participates in multiple professional organizations, including INCOSE, IEEE, ASEE, SDS, ERS, and others. He currently serves as an Associate Editor of Entrepreneurship Research Journal. Alex is also the founder and managing member at SystemicNet, LLC, managing partner at Social Media Risk, LLC, and a partner at Mountava, LLC.