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vol. 10, no. 2 fall 2015<br />
The newsletter of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology<br />
System Design & Management program<br />
<strong>sdm</strong> <strong>pulse</strong><br />
in this issue<br />
Welcome 2<br />
Enhancing Intelligence and 3<br />
Improving Mission Performance<br />
in the US Army<br />
Energy-Water Nexus and 8<br />
Sustainability in Chile<br />
Measuring the Impact of 12<br />
Enterprise Social Software<br />
Advancing Human-Computer 16<br />
Communication to Maximize<br />
Sales<br />
SDM Silicon Valley 19<br />
Tech Trek Report<br />
Snapshot: New SDM 22<br />
and IDM Cohorts<br />
SDM Leadership Award 24<br />
Employment Report 25<br />
Crawley, Cameron Publish 25<br />
New Book<br />
MacInnis Named IDM Instructor 26<br />
Systems Thinking Conference 27<br />
Calendar 28<br />
on the web<br />
> Virtual Information Sessions<br />
<strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu & idm.mit.edu<br />
> MIT SDM Systems Thinking<br />
Webinar Series<br />
<strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu<br />
Tech Trek Report<br />
©2015 Intuitive Surgical, Inc.<br />
see page 19
2 <strong>sdm</strong><strong>pulse</strong> fall 2015 <strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu<br />
Welcome<br />
<strong>sdm</strong><strong>pulse</strong><br />
Vol. 10, No. 2<br />
Fall 2015<br />
Copyright MIT, all rights reserved.<br />
Publisher: Joan S. Rubin, MIT SDM<br />
Industry Codirector<br />
Editor: Lois Slavin, MIT SDM<br />
Communications Director<br />
Contributors: Donny Holaschutz,<br />
Matt Kressy, Suzanne Livingston,<br />
Jorge Moreno, Bryan Pirtle, Jillian<br />
Wisniewski<br />
Photography: Heath Marvin,<br />
John Parrillo, Dave Schultz<br />
Layout: Janice Hall<br />
Copy editor: Kathryn O’Neill<br />
Printer: Puritan Press<br />
MIT System Design & Management and<br />
its Integrated Design & Management<br />
track are jointly offered by the MIT<br />
School of Engineering and the MIT<br />
Sloan School of Management.<br />
For further information, visit<br />
<strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu and idm.mit.edu.<br />
On the cover: The da Vinci Si Surgical<br />
System made by Intuitive Surgical is<br />
shown in action in an operating room.<br />
SDM fellows visited Intuitive Surgical<br />
and several other companies during the<br />
2015 spring Tech Trek. (See article on<br />
page 19.)<br />
The 2015 fall edition of the SDM Pulse highlights the application of systems thinking by<br />
alumni of MIT’s System Design & Management (SDM) program and by others in a wide<br />
range of domains. This issue also highlights the myriad opportunities available for you<br />
and your company to engage with SDM, as well as with SDM and Integrated Design &<br />
Management (IDM) fellows—among the best and brightest students at MIT!<br />
Specifically, you will find:<br />
• A report on how the US Army is using systems analysis to enhance the performance<br />
of tactical personnel;<br />
• An article on measuring and improving business processes, applicable to any company;<br />
• A look at how Chile’s Ministry of Energy is tackling sustainability in the energy-water<br />
nexus;<br />
• Details on an advancement in human-computer communication that can help<br />
maximize sales;<br />
• Reports on how companies are engaging with SDM, including a spotlight on the<br />
spring 2015 Tech Trek in the San Francisco Bay Area—and information on how your<br />
company can get involved;<br />
• Snapshots of the newly matriculated cohorts for SDM and the inaugural class in<br />
its IDM track (the diversity of cultures, industries, and educational backgrounds<br />
represented is truly remarkable);<br />
• News of a new book by SDM faculty members Ed Crawley and Bruce Cameron<br />
and the appointment of Andy MacInnis as IDM’s technical instructor; and<br />
• Information on upcoming SDM events, such as this year’s annual systems thinking<br />
conference and back-to-the-classroom sessions, our alumni-student networking<br />
evening, live and virtual information events for prospective applicants and companies<br />
interested in sponsoring students, webinars on applying systems thinking to various<br />
complex challenges, and more.<br />
We hope you enjoy this edition of the Pulse. As always, we welcome your feedback<br />
and suggestions.<br />
Sincerely,<br />
Joan S. Rubin<br />
Industry Codirector<br />
MIT System Design & Management<br />
jsrubin@mit.edu
3<br />
About the Author<br />
A Systems Approach to Enhancing<br />
Intelligence and Improving Mission<br />
Performance in the US Army<br />
Jillian Wisniewski is an Army<br />
captain and system dynamics<br />
instructor at the US Military Academy<br />
(USMA) in West Point, NY. She holds<br />
a BS in operations research from<br />
USMA and an SM in engineering<br />
and management from MIT.<br />
The challenge: Modern Army analysts must generate and direct intelligence that supports<br />
the pace of tactical operations for a modular force with decentralized decision-making.<br />
Digital collection platforms, information systems, analytical software, and connectivity at<br />
the tactical level are useful, but insufficient. Analysts need training in data analysis<br />
fundamentals to understand the trajectory from raw data to decision-making.<br />
The approach: Using a systems-based analysis to enhance intelligence can help Army<br />
units at the tactical level improve mission performance. This type of analysis uses systems<br />
design tools to:<br />
• examine and model the design of military operations;<br />
• define the analyst’s required capability in the context of tactical operations;<br />
• explore, revise, and assess components of intelligence competency;<br />
• assess the relative costs of competency gaps; and<br />
• recommend improvements.<br />
The tools: Five systems-based approaches were used to address this challenge.<br />
They were:<br />
• system architecture<br />
• system dynamics<br />
• design structure matrix<br />
• multi-domain mapping matrices<br />
• system dynamics shortcut model<br />
System architecture. The first step was to assess the architecture of the military’s<br />
intelligence system. This revealed that the decentralized decision-making that now<br />
characterizes the Army’s mission command requires precise tactical intelligence.<br />
Objectives for tactical operations are nested within those at the operational level, so the<br />
outcome of each mission affects the next one down the line. To propagate change in a<br />
desired direction, the unit must understand the current operational conditions and threat,<br />
which are characterized by a fair degree of uncertainty. Effective decision-making depends<br />
on the unit’s ability to reduce this uncertainty and move toward a desired end state.<br />
System dynamics. The next step was to develop a model for mission performance based<br />
on the principles of system dynamics. This model stresses the significance of personnel<br />
considerations to the unit’s ability to successfully accomplish missions: operations in<br />
environments with greater uncertainty are more demanding of personnel resources.<br />
continued on page 4
4 <strong>sdm</strong><strong>pulse</strong> fall 2015 <strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu<br />
<br />
initial<br />
tasks<br />
<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
campaign<br />
plan<br />
- OPTEMPO<br />
contingency<br />
missions<br />
+<br />
+<br />
OPTEMPO<br />
GAP<br />
+<br />
<br />
+<br />
task arrival<br />
+<br />
contingency<br />
OPTEMPO<br />
-<br />
<br />
B<br />
Depletion II<br />
Tasks in<br />
Higher Level<br />
Objective<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
successes<br />
<br />
B<br />
Depletion I<br />
deployment<br />
time<br />
<br />
<br />
operational<br />
capacity<br />
+<br />
- time available to<br />
achieve higher level<br />
+ objective<br />
-<br />
+<br />
+<br />
allowable<br />
mission<br />
attempts<br />
operational<br />
capacity<br />
utilization<br />
+<br />
+<br />
mission<br />
complexity<br />
gap<br />
discovery<br />
+<br />
+<br />
desired intel<br />
production<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
minimum<br />
required intel<br />
production<br />
<br />
-<br />
retask<br />
capacity<br />
Intel Gaps<br />
B<br />
Intel Cycle<br />
+<br />
intel<br />
capacity<br />
utilization<br />
Missions<br />
to Rework<br />
filled<br />
+<br />
-<br />
intel<br />
products<br />
+ +<br />
intel<br />
capacity<br />
intel<br />
readiness<br />
factor<br />
+ -<br />
intelcyle<br />
time<br />
failure<br />
time to +<br />
+<br />
<br />
Rework<br />
+<br />
- planning<br />
- mission<br />
cycletime<br />
requests<br />
Missions to<br />
Do<br />
<br />
attempts<br />
+<br />
desired<br />
+<br />
+<br />
production<br />
discard<br />
filter<br />
B<br />
+ time<br />
B<br />
likelihood of<br />
attempt<br />
-<br />
Prioritization<br />
Operational<br />
filterability Tempo<br />
timeto<br />
+ - risk <br />
R<br />
Intel Cycle<br />
Current Ops<br />
intel support<br />
to mission<br />
+<br />
+<br />
-<br />
uncertainty<br />
B<br />
Mission<br />
Planning<br />
Missions<br />
in<br />
Progress<br />
mission<br />
executiontime<br />
+<br />
completed<br />
-<br />
<br />
Figure 1. System dynamics model for tactical mission performance. The decision mechanisms within the model are<br />
founded on US operations and intelligence doctrine.<br />
continued from page 3<br />
The model enables simulation of the system under a variety of scenarios and highlights the relative impacts of<br />
operational or intelligence capacity variables on mission performance. These outcomes include:<br />
• Mission fails as a result of operational capacity exceeding the unit’s intelligence capacity; and<br />
• Mission succeeds, but the unit must put in extra effort to compensate for limited intelligence.<br />
Note that additional unit effort means additional exposure to risk for troops in the operational environment. This<br />
demonstrates that intelligence capacity is more than a force multiplier: It is a force preserver.
5<br />
Enduring Challenges in Tactical Intel<br />
Tasks in the Military Decision-Making Process<br />
Commander<br />
XO Exec Officer<br />
S3 Operations<br />
S2 Intelligence<br />
S6 Communications<br />
S1 Personnel<br />
S4 Logistics<br />
Operators<br />
1<br />
Receipt of<br />
Mission<br />
Alert key staff and participants.<br />
Gather tools.<br />
Update running estimates.<br />
Conduct initial assessment.<br />
Issue the initial warning order.<br />
Analyze higher HQ plan or order.<br />
Perform initial Intelligence Preparation of Battlefield.<br />
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1<br />
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0<br />
0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0<br />
0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0<br />
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1<br />
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0<br />
0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0<br />
Organizational Design Challenges<br />
• Experience Differential<br />
• Organizational Culture<br />
Determine specified, implied, and essential tasks.<br />
0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0<br />
Review available assets.<br />
0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1<br />
Determine constraints.<br />
0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1<br />
Command, Staff, and Operator Roles in MDMP<br />
2<br />
3<br />
4<br />
5<br />
Mission Analysis<br />
COA Development<br />
COA Analysis<br />
COA<br />
Comparison<br />
Identify critical facts and develop assumptions.<br />
Begin composite risk management.<br />
Develop initial commander’s critical information requirements<br />
and essential elements of friendly information.<br />
Develop initial recon and surveillance (R&S) synchronization tools.<br />
Develop initial R&S plan.<br />
Update plan for use of available time.<br />
Develop initial themes and messages.<br />
Develop proposed problem statement.<br />
Develop proposed mission statement.<br />
Present the mission analysis briefing.<br />
Develop and issue initial commander’s intent.<br />
Develop and issue initial planning guidance.<br />
Develop course of action (COA) evaluation criteria.<br />
Issue a warning order.<br />
Assess relative combat power.<br />
Generate options.<br />
Array forces.<br />
Develop a broad concept.<br />
Assign headquarters.<br />
Prepare COA statements and sketches.<br />
Conduct COA briefing.<br />
Select or modify COAs for continued analysis.<br />
Gather the tools.<br />
List all friendly forces.<br />
List assumptions.<br />
List known critical events and decision points.<br />
Select the war-gaming method.<br />
Select a technique to record and display results.<br />
War-game the operation and assess the results.<br />
Conduct a war-game briefing (optional).<br />
Conduct advantages and disadvantages analysis.<br />
Compare COAs.<br />
Conduct a COA decision briefing.<br />
0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0<br />
0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0<br />
0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0<br />
0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0<br />
0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0<br />
0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0<br />
0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0<br />
0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0<br />
0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0<br />
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1<br />
1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0<br />
1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1<br />
1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0<br />
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1<br />
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1<br />
0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0<br />
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0<br />
0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0<br />
1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0<br />
0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0<br />
0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0<br />
1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0<br />
0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0<br />
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0<br />
0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0<br />
0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0<br />
0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0<br />
0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0<br />
1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0<br />
1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1<br />
1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0<br />
1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0<br />
1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1<br />
Commander<br />
XO Exec Officer<br />
S3 Operations<br />
S2 Intelligence<br />
S6 Communications<br />
S1 Personnel<br />
S4 Logistics<br />
Operators<br />
Commander<br />
18 17 17 16 10 6 6 8<br />
XO Exec Officer<br />
17 29 28 27 16 8 8 10<br />
S3 Operations<br />
17 28 45 39 17 8 8 13<br />
S2 Intelligence<br />
16 27 39 39 17 8 8 10<br />
S6 Communications<br />
10 16 17 17 17 8 8 10<br />
S1 Personnel<br />
6 8 8 8 8 8 8 4<br />
S4 Logistics<br />
6 8 8 8 8 8 8 4<br />
Operators 8 10 13 10 10 4 4 13<br />
6<br />
7<br />
COA<br />
Approval<br />
Orders<br />
Production<br />
Commander selects COA.<br />
Commander issues the final planning guidance.<br />
Issue warning order #3.<br />
Deliver/ brief order to subordinate unit.<br />
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0<br />
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1<br />
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1<br />
1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1<br />
Figure 2. The domain mapping matrix (DMM) on the left matches tasks in the military decision-making process (MDMP) to individual roles.<br />
Squaring the DMM creates the design structure matrix on the right, which shows the interdependent roles within MDMP.<br />
Design structure matrix (DSM). The formal mapping of a unit’s staff using the design structure matrix made it possible to see that some<br />
transfers of information occur as lateral exchanges while others occur hierarchically. Structural and organizational designs inherent to military<br />
culture and hierarchy, including potential disparities in rank and experience, can unfortunately create artificial barriers to communication.<br />
For example, it is not atypical for an intelligence officer to rank one or two levels below an operations officer. This means the operations officer<br />
could have many more years of experience than the intelligence officer. To work well together, the intelligence officer must spend significant<br />
effort building knowledge of the unit’s operations, specific standards, and tactics just to be conversant with the person on whom all of his<br />
tasks depend. The communication barriers are significantly greater when an analyst perceptibly lacks competency in his field.<br />
continued on page 6
39 26 19 30 18 43 40 30 31 38 23 42 30 31 42 35 36<br />
45 30 22 21 15 23 21 18 21 22 17 36 33 31 39 28 30<br />
30 49 38 27 15 29 27 18 18 26 15 33 36 34 44 39 40<br />
22 38 56 32 23 35 34 22 23 33 22 26 35 29 42 48 47<br />
21 27 32 62 31 47 47 35 39 42 33 29 26 24 42 46 47<br />
15 15 23 31 38 31 32 29 30 32 28 17 15 14 18 36 35<br />
23 29 35 47 31 77 74 50 50 60 40 33 24 23 41 56 56<br />
21 27 34 47 32 74 76 51 51 62 42 31 23 22 40 56 56<br />
18 18 22 35 29 50 51 53 42 48 38 22 15 17 27 40 41<br />
21 18 23 39 30 50 51 42 57 53 42 27 19 17 29 48 45<br />
22 26 33 42 32 60 62 48 53 73 44 28 24 24 38 60 58<br />
17 15 22 33 28 40 42 38 42 44 46 20 14 15 23 38 37<br />
36 33 26 29 17 33 31 22 27 28 20 57 38 40 46 35 37<br />
33 36 35 26 15 24 23 15 19 24 14 38 50 40 50 39 40<br />
31 34 29 24 14 23 22 17 17 24 15 40 40 47 45 35 40<br />
39 44 42 42 18 41 40 27 29 38 23 46 50 45 77 50 53<br />
28 39 48 46 36 56 56 40 48 60 38 35 39 35 50 82 76<br />
30 40 47 47 35 56 56 41 45 58 37 37 40 40 53 76 82<br />
41 42 46 39 50 45 44 42 40 42 29 27 23 18 38 50 53<br />
41<br />
100 43 33 23<br />
24 23 29 35 74 47 50 50 40 31 60 56 56<br />
42<br />
43 100 42 39<br />
30 31 26 19 40 30 31 30 23 18 38 35 36<br />
46<br />
33 42 100 36 38 40 33 26 31 29 27 22 20 17 28 35 37<br />
23 39 36 100 33 31 30 22 21 21 21 18 17 15 22 28 30<br />
24 30 38<br />
33 100 40 36 35<br />
23 26 19 15 14 15 24 39 40<br />
23 31 40<br />
31 40 100 34 29<br />
22 24 17 17 15 14 24 35 40<br />
29 26 33 30 36 34 100 38 27 27 18 18 15 15 26 39 40<br />
35 19 26 22 35 29 38 100 34 32 23 22 22 23 33 48 47<br />
74 40 31 21 23 22 27 34<br />
100 47 51 51 42<br />
32 62 56 56<br />
47 30 29 21 26 24 27 32<br />
47 100 39 35 33<br />
31 42 46 47<br />
50 31 27 21 19 17 18 23 51 39 100 42 42 30 53 48 45<br />
50 30 22 18 15 17 18 22 51 35 42 100 38 29 48 40 41<br />
40 23 20 17 14 15 15 22 42 33 42 38 100 28 44 38 37<br />
31 18 17 15 15 14 15 23 32 31 30 29 28 100 32 36 35<br />
60 38 28 22 24 24 26 33 62 42 53 48 44 32 100 60 58<br />
56 35 35 28 39 35 39 48 56 46 48 40 38 36 60 100 76<br />
56 36 37 30 40 40 40 47 56 47 45 41 37 35 58 76 100<br />
6 <strong>sdm</strong><strong>pulse</strong> fall 2015 <strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu<br />
continued from page 5<br />
Multi-domain mapping matrix (MDD). Using a multi-domain mapping matrix to scrutinize the analyst’s role in unit operations<br />
reveals four major components of competency imperative to analysts’ abilities: intelligence methodology, integration with unit<br />
operations, communication, and information processing. The MDM illuminates the relationship of these components across 132<br />
competency specifications. It also highlights the significance of each component and exposes design challenges.<br />
Since the MDM contains DSMs that map components to specifications and vice versa, it also generates a DSM (Figure 3), which<br />
lends insight into the significance of each competency. Most notably, the new DSM reveals that competence in information<br />
processing is extremely important in the early phases of intelligence analysis and endures through decision-making. Thus, the<br />
capability of the analyst is the lynchpin for the unit’s intelligence capacity.<br />
System dynamics shortcut model.* The Army is still largely reactive when it comes to determining which human-to-digital<br />
interfaces maximize information transfer for combat operations. However, leaders are discovering that the tools are only as good<br />
Update to Core Competencies<br />
Enduring + Newly Identified Set = Enabled Intelligence Production<br />
Original DSM<br />
Original<br />
DSM<br />
62<br />
Planning and Direction<br />
39<br />
Collection<br />
26<br />
Processing & Exploitation<br />
19<br />
Analysis and Production<br />
30<br />
Dissemination and Integration<br />
18<br />
Evaluation and Feedback<br />
43<br />
Operations Doctrine<br />
40<br />
Unit-Specific Mission, Tactics, Procedures<br />
30<br />
Unit's Decision Processes<br />
31<br />
Clarity/Articulation (In Analysis)<br />
38<br />
Cohesion (Operational Context, War Gaming)<br />
23<br />
Delivery (Unit’s Communication Network/Protocols)<br />
42<br />
Data Building<br />
30<br />
Data Mining<br />
31<br />
Data Validation<br />
42<br />
Information Network Mapping<br />
35<br />
Interpretation (Logical/Quanititative Reasoning)<br />
36<br />
Critique (Sources of Uncertainty)<br />
Sequential Functions<br />
1 Planning and Collection<br />
2 Processing and Analysis<br />
3 Decision-Making<br />
Communication<br />
Integration<br />
Information Processing<br />
Intel Doctrine<br />
Planning and Direction<br />
Collection<br />
Processing & Exploitation<br />
Analysis and Production<br />
Dissemination and Integration<br />
Evaluation and Feedback<br />
Operations Doctrine<br />
Unit-Specific Mission, Tactics, Procedures<br />
Unit's Decision Processes<br />
Clarity/Articulation (In Analysis)<br />
Cohesion (Operational Context, War Gaming)<br />
Delivery (Unit’s Communication Network/Protocols)<br />
Data Building<br />
Data Mining<br />
Data Validation<br />
Information Network Mapping<br />
Interpretation (Logical/Quanititative Reasoning)<br />
Critique (Sources of Uncertainty)<br />
Enabling Knowledge<br />
A Context and Architecture<br />
B Information Processing<br />
C Unit-Specific Context<br />
Modified<br />
DSM<br />
100<br />
Information Network Mapping<br />
41<br />
Operations Doctrine<br />
42<br />
Planning and Direction<br />
46<br />
Data Building<br />
39<br />
Collection<br />
50<br />
Data Mining<br />
45<br />
Data Validation<br />
44<br />
Processing & Exploitation<br />
42<br />
Analysis and Production<br />
40<br />
Unit-Specific Mission, Tactics, Procedures<br />
42<br />
Dissemination and Integration<br />
29<br />
Clarity/Articulation (In Analysis)<br />
27<br />
Unit's Decision Processes<br />
23<br />
Delivery (Unit’s Communication Network/Protocols)<br />
18<br />
Evaluation and Feedback<br />
38<br />
Cohesion (Operational Context, War Gaming)<br />
50<br />
Interpretation (Logical/Quantitative Reasoning)<br />
53<br />
Critique (Sources of Uncertainty)<br />
Information Network Mapping<br />
Operations Doctrine<br />
Planning and Direction<br />
Data Building<br />
Collection<br />
Data Mining<br />
Data Validation<br />
Processing & Exploitation<br />
Analysis and Production<br />
Unit-Specific Mission, Tactics, Procedures<br />
Dissemination and Integration<br />
Clarity/Articulation (In Analysis)<br />
Unit's Decision Processes<br />
Delivery (Unit's Communication Network/<br />
Protocols)<br />
Evaluation and Feedback<br />
Cohesion (Operational Context, War Gaming)<br />
Interpretation (Logical/Quantitative Reasoning)<br />
Critique (Sources of Uncertainty)<br />
Figure 3. This design structure matrix shows the competency components an analyst needs. A lack of competency in information<br />
processing degrades planning and collection, which in turn degrades processing, or at a minimum greatly delays it. When timely<br />
and relevant intelligence does not support the unit’s missions, missions are far less likely to succeed.<br />
* This model, adapted from J.B. Morrison, reveals why well-intended shortcuts have detrimental effects on the analysts’ skill development and,<br />
consequently, the Army at large.
7<br />
as the analyst’s ability to apply them to the operations context. Blind application of tools essentially prejudices the<br />
organization against trusting its intelligence officers. Moreover, shortcuts reduce the number of tasks in the intel<br />
cycle, leading to a decrease in learning that affects the analyst’s qualification for intelligence positions of greater<br />
influence, propagating skill deterioration across the organization.<br />
Without Change, Analyst’s Capability Erodes<br />
complexity<br />
missions<br />
uncertainty<br />
-<br />
+<br />
+<br />
new<br />
requirements<br />
intelligence<br />
production<br />
requirements<br />
fulfillment<br />
rate<br />
Relative Competency Level<br />
Without Change, Analyst’s Capability<br />
Erodes Military Intelligence Capability<br />
Senior<br />
Analyst<br />
Junior<br />
Analyst<br />
inial<br />
entry<br />
training<br />
inial assignments<br />
Analyst Competency<br />
Ideal Ability<br />
career<br />
course<br />
career developing<br />
assignments<br />
intermediate<br />
level<br />
educaon<br />
Shortcut Ability<br />
0 3 5 10<br />
time (years)<br />
+<br />
time<br />
pressure<br />
+<br />
B<br />
Work Faster<br />
well-intentioned<br />
shortcuts<br />
+<br />
short-term<br />
productivity<br />
+<br />
+<br />
-<br />
R<br />
Skill Building<br />
learning<br />
analysis<br />
proficiency<br />
+<br />
analyst’s<br />
capability<br />
forgetting<br />
Figure 4. The effect of decreased competency across the organization negatively affects the warfighter in two ways: increasingly<br />
higher levels of the organization lack the requisite capabilities to perform intelligence functions effectively, and resources are<br />
reallocated to intelligence and away the immediate mission, meaning fewer resources for preparing the warfighter for combat.<br />
The results: As a team, the Army needs to revise training for tactical intelligence analysts to align their capabilities with<br />
the current and future needs of tactical operations. In order to deliver valuable intelligence insights to the unit, analysts<br />
must be competent in information processing and in communicating key intelligence insights to decision-makers.<br />
There are currently myriad research efforts focused on how to extract value from large sources of data, leverage<br />
tools to optimize their utility, and identify and understand sources of uncertainty. As an intelligence community, we<br />
need to:<br />
• unify these efforts and identify ways to enhance analyst training in both the near and long term;<br />
• incorporate aspects of information processing, such as fundamentals of data analysis or statistical<br />
methods, into analysts’ initial entry and career development curricula;<br />
• assess in depth the skills and teaching methods that provide the most value; and<br />
• employ these findings to guide the development of a new curriculum and culture in military intelligence,<br />
providing the enduring foundation for intelligence capacity required for the modern operational environment.
8 <strong>sdm</strong><strong>pulse</strong> fall 2015 <strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu<br />
About the Authors<br />
Assessing Regulatory, Environmental,<br />
Economic, and Technical Components<br />
of Sustainable Energy and Water Use<br />
in Thermoelectric Facilities in Chile<br />
Donny Holaschutz, SDM alumnus<br />
and cofounder of the energy and<br />
sustainability consultancy inodú, is<br />
a seasoned entrepreneur with<br />
experience in both for- and not-forprofit<br />
ventures related to energy and<br />
sustainability. He has consulted for<br />
startups, Fortune 500 companies,<br />
and government agencies in the<br />
United States and Latin America.<br />
He holds a master’s degree in<br />
engineering and management from<br />
MIT and bachelor’s and master’s<br />
degrees in aerospace engineering<br />
from the University of Texas at Austin.<br />
Editor’s note: The following is a summary of a study performed for the Chilean Energy Ministry with<br />
the support of the Ministry of the Environment. The authors would like to thank the Chilean Energy<br />
Ministry and Ministry of the Environment for supporting this project.<br />
The challenge: Water use at thermoelectric facilities presents a complex systems problem for<br />
several reasons:<br />
• To operate safely and efficiently, the facilities need large amounts of water, yet water<br />
supplies are limited;<br />
• The social and environmental impacts of water use are becoming increasingly significant<br />
worldwide; and<br />
• A complex set of relationships exists among the overall environmental, economic, and<br />
social impacts of water use; how water is withdrawn from its source; how it is used at<br />
facilities; and how it is returned to the environment.<br />
The most significant water use at a thermoelectric facility is associated with the cooling<br />
process, which in turn is tightly coupled to the overall performance and reliability of the plant.<br />
An adequate amount of water for the plant’s cooling system leads to a more energy-efficient<br />
thermoelectric facility—one that produces less atmospheric emissions per unit of electricity<br />
generated. This relationship creates an important tension in the design or upgrade of a plant’s<br />
cooling system between water use and performance.<br />
Any cooling system design must consider a variety of factors, including:<br />
• local environmental conditions and geography, including access to and availability of<br />
water;<br />
• the ecosystems of the source body of water;<br />
• local social context; and<br />
Jorge Moreno, SDM alumnus and<br />
inodú cofounder, has extensive<br />
experience in the energy industry in<br />
the United States and Latin America.<br />
He holds a master’s degree in<br />
engineering and management from<br />
MIT and bachelor’s and master’s<br />
degrees in electrical engineering<br />
from the Pontificia Universidad<br />
Católica de Chile.<br />
• how specific system byproducts—such as water flow at the intake and the temperature<br />
of the water effluent—might stress the source body of water.<br />
Inodú worked with the Chilean Energy Ministry and the Ministry of the Environment to identify<br />
and address some of the challenges posed by water use at thermoelectric facilities in Chile by<br />
conducting a preliminary assessment of the current regulatory, environmental, economic, and<br />
technical situation. This assessment helped address the following goals presented in the<br />
Chilean Energy Ministry’s Energy Agenda:<br />
• supporting the sustainable development of thermoelectric generation projects;
9<br />
• making progress toward overall territorial regulations focused on efficiency and sustainability; and<br />
• promoting energy efficiency as a state policy.<br />
The approach: Inodú used an integrated set of methodologies grounded in systems thinking to elaborate its analysis.<br />
First, we conducted an extensive literature review to gather facts and gain an understanding of the research, analysis, and<br />
regulation developed worldwide. Inodú found that in Chile most thermoelectric generation facilities are located by the coast,<br />
while in the United States, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, only 3 percent of power plants use ocean water.<br />
This indicated that solutions being developed for the United States might not necessarily apply to Chile.<br />
Next, we engaged key Chilean stakeholders to gain a better understanding of how water is currently used and what solutions<br />
might be available. The stakeholders included:<br />
• cooling system technology providers;<br />
• thermoelectric facility technology providers;<br />
• construction companies; and<br />
• local generation companies.<br />
Inodú also conducted a survey to calculate the potential for water withdrawal by the thermoelectric generation base.<br />
In Chile in 2013, the potential for water withdrawal from the Pacific Ocean was 530,400 cubic meters per hour (m 3 /hr)<br />
by thermoelectric facilities, the equivalent of withdrawing approximately 212 Olympic-size pools every hour* (see Figure 1).<br />
The potential for water withdrawal from water wells was 3,080 m 3 /hr.<br />
continued on page 10<br />
m 3 /hr<br />
Groundwater<br />
3,080<br />
Water Wells<br />
3,080<br />
m 3 /hr<br />
Coastline<br />
35,000<br />
17,909<br />
Pacific<br />
Ocean<br />
530,434<br />
Siphon<br />
495,434<br />
246,500<br />
6,000<br />
Water Source<br />
Consumption<br />
3%<br />
Other Uses<br />
5%<br />
Water Intake Type<br />
Open<br />
System<br />
3<br />
(m /hr)<br />
Closed<br />
System<br />
3<br />
(m /hr)<br />
59,400<br />
Chile<br />
103,800<br />
2,600<br />
420<br />
Discharged<br />
Water<br />
97%<br />
Cooling<br />
Water<br />
95%<br />
96,800<br />
Discharge<br />
Water Uses in<br />
the Power Plant<br />
Figure 1. The water cycle is shown at left for Chile’s thermoelectric facilities, marked on the map at right.<br />
* 2,500 m 3 is a value commonly quoted for the volume of an Olympic-size pool.
10 <strong>sdm</strong><strong>pulse</strong> fall 2015 <strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu<br />
continued from page 9<br />
Chile typically withdraws water from the Pacific<br />
using an overhead siphon, a method that<br />
differs from that used in many other countries.<br />
The potential for water withdrawal using an<br />
overhead siphon was 495,434 m 3 /hr in 2013<br />
(see Figure 1). Mitigating the environmental<br />
impact created by withdrawing water with an<br />
overhead siphon requires a different approach<br />
than that used for some of the common intake<br />
structures found in the United States, such as<br />
the intake channel or submerged intake<br />
structure flush with shoreline. Engaging local<br />
construction companies allowed inodú to<br />
understand the unique Chilean coastal<br />
conditions that made the overhead siphon the<br />
preferred water intake system.<br />
Types of Water Intake<br />
and Discharge Systems<br />
Water<br />
Wells<br />
Coastline System<br />
Inverted Siphon<br />
Underwater System<br />
Pumping<br />
Pumping<br />
Pumping<br />
Pumping<br />
Pumping<br />
Figure 2. Cooling system configurations in Chile.<br />
Pumping<br />
Depends<br />
on Topography<br />
Types of Cooling<br />
Components<br />
Once-Through Cooling<br />
Cooling Tower<br />
Cooling Pond<br />
Condenser<br />
Condenser<br />
Several cooling system configurations unique<br />
to Chile have developed over time as shown in Figure 2. The withdrawal and return of water generates the following relevant environmental<br />
impacts:<br />
• impingement and entrainment of water organisms;<br />
• chemicals released into the water (chemicals are mostly used to keep cooling systems clean);<br />
• increases in water temperatures; and<br />
• water loss.<br />
The environmental impacts caused by withdrawing and returning water can be affected by the selection of the cooling system and the use<br />
of proper safeguards applied to the water intake and discharge systems. The velocity at the intake, the water volume, the location of the<br />
intake and discharge systems and the types of safeguards used (screens, racks, biomass handling systems, etc.) also affect the overall<br />
environmental impact of the cooling system. Environmental safeguards installed in water intake systems in Chile are shown in Figure 3.<br />
The environmental impact of water use can be greatly influenced by the type of cooling system selected. For example, once-through<br />
cooling systems use the most water but only consume small amounts of that water. Cooling towers and cooling ponds require less water,<br />
but they lose more water to evaporation. Finally, air-cooled condensers (dry-cooling) require no water, but they are significantly more<br />
energy inefficient than the other types of cooling systems. In addition, the topography of the coastline in Chile can play a significant role in<br />
the amount of energy needed to pump water from the coast to the location of the thermoelectric facility—a factor that affects the overall<br />
efficiency and environmental impact of the system.<br />
We found that 95 percent of the water employed by thermoelectric facilities is used for cooling and that, in the whole water cycle,<br />
approximately 3 percent of the water is consumed. Most of the water is used by once-through cooling systems. Currently, the northern<br />
region of Chile demands more cooling water than the central region as shown in Figure 1. Both regions have significant inland water<br />
constraints, especially the far north, home to some of the country’s important mining operations as well as to the Atacama Desert, one of<br />
the driest deserts in the world.<br />
Once we had an understanding of worldwide best practices, what was possible in Chile, and the current state of water use at<br />
thermoelectric facilities, we began exploring:<br />
• what important tradeoffs would have to be considered to generate recommendations and future work; and
11<br />
Single<br />
Entry/Exit<br />
Traveling<br />
1<br />
Double<br />
Entry/Single<br />
Exit Traveling<br />
3<br />
Traveling Screens = 24 Trash Racks = 27<br />
Rotatory<br />
Traveling<br />
Screens<br />
9<br />
Traveling<br />
Screens<br />
11<br />
Trash Racks<br />
with Rake<br />
12<br />
Trash Racks<br />
13<br />
Trash Racks<br />
on the Siphon<br />
2<br />
Fish Handling and/or<br />
Return Systems = 3<br />
Fish<br />
Conveyance<br />
System<br />
(Troughs or<br />
Pipes)<br />
3<br />
Others<br />
0<br />
Passive Intake Systems = 1<br />
Wedge-Wire<br />
Screen<br />
1<br />
Others<br />
0<br />
Fish Diversion or Avoidance Systems = 18<br />
Fish Net +<br />
Air Bubble<br />
Barrier<br />
2<br />
Fish Net<br />
14<br />
Rack on Siphon<br />
Intake to Avoid<br />
Large Organisms<br />
4<br />
Figure 3. Environmental safeguards installed in water intake systems in Chile.<br />
• the techno-economic performance of different types of cooling systems at the four locations where thermoelectric generation<br />
is currently centered in Chile (Mejillones, Quintero, Quillota, and Coronel).<br />
To assess the techno-economic performance across locations, inodú developed cases for comparison. The effectiveness of cooling<br />
systems depends on local environmental conditions such as local air and water temperatures and humidity. The cases were developed<br />
by determining representative local environmental conditions at the four locations, then using the same thermoelectric facility for all<br />
cases as well as comparable design criteria.<br />
In addition, to evaluate environmental and system performance, we explored:<br />
• how changes in system configurations could reduce important environmental impacts associated with the withdrawal and<br />
return of water such as impingement and entrainment of water organisms, the use of chemicals in water, increases in water<br />
temperatures, and water consumption (loss); and<br />
• how changes in system configurations could produce other environmental side effects such as changes in atmospheric<br />
emissions, noise, and plume.<br />
The results: For a thermoelectric plant located by the coast, the analysis led to the conclusion that, in Chile, a once-through<br />
cooling system with the proper environmental safeguards tends to be the most adequate. In addition, cooling towers or other<br />
closed-loop cooling systems tend to be the most appropriate where the water intake elevation exceeds the elevation at which it<br />
is environmentally sustainable and economically efficient to pump the water volume required by a once-through cooling system.<br />
Dry-cooling systems should only be used when water usage concerns do not permit the use<br />
of a once-through cooling system or cooling towers. While dry-cooling systems decrease<br />
water use, they increase atmospheric emissions per unit of net-energy produced.<br />
><br />
The report that includes<br />
Ultimately, we found that clearer guidelines are needed to help stakeholders choose<br />
the analysis conducted,<br />
the recommendations,<br />
adequate cooling system configurations and safeguards that are socially, environmentally,<br />
and next steps can be<br />
and economically friendly. Inodú presented a set of next steps for creating such guidelines<br />
downloaded at<br />
so that power plant developers and operators can reduce the environmental and social<br />
<strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu/<br />
holaschutz-moreno<br />
impacts of their power plants.<br />
http://
12 <strong>sdm</strong><strong>pulse</strong> fall 2015 <strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu<br />
About the Author<br />
Understanding and Measuring the<br />
Impact of Enterprise Social Software<br />
on Business Practices<br />
The challenge: Organizations are increasingly investing in enterprise social software, which<br />
provides networking and collaboration tools such as communities and people profiles, to support<br />
their business goals. However, many struggle to understand the practical impact of such<br />
technologies. The two major challenges are:<br />
SDM alumna Suzanne Livingston<br />
is a senior product manager for<br />
IBM Connections and a product<br />
management teaching fellow at<br />
Harvard Business School. She<br />
holds an SM in engineering and<br />
management from MIT, an MBA<br />
with a concentration in human<br />
factors in information design from<br />
Bentley University, and a BS in<br />
management information systems<br />
from the University of Connecticut.<br />
• insufficient user adoption, resulting in insufficient usage to demonstrate meaningful<br />
impact; and<br />
• insufficient data for comparing performance with social technology to performance<br />
without.<br />
To tackle these challenges, businesses must address the following questions:<br />
• Has the technology investment been worthwhile?<br />
• Which areas of my company have gained value from it? and<br />
• Which areas of my company have seen no improvement?<br />
The approach: For my SDM master’s thesis,* I developed research-based guidelines that can<br />
help companies understand and measure the impact of socially focused business processes—<br />
those that involve collaboration and coordination among people. These guidelines can help<br />
organizations to:<br />
• understand the overarching challenges of user adoption;<br />
• determine how to address adoption issues to improve impact; and<br />
• identify business metrics they can use to compare performance before and after adopting<br />
social technology.<br />
I developed these guidelines by examining five organizations that have adopted social<br />
technologies and measuring the impact on business processes. Each case study looked at:<br />
• what was measured and when;<br />
• the approaches used to foster adoption of social technologies; and<br />
• the business impact.<br />
The five companies were selected because all were utilizing social technology with their<br />
employees. In some cases, social technology was used with external contacts as well. All the<br />
companies were interested in understanding enterprise social software usage and impact.<br />
Each identified a business process that the software was intended to improve. Three also<br />
* The author wishes to thank her thesis advisor, Professor Wanda Orlikowski, for her support.
13<br />
provided access to users and managers of the social technology for the purpose of assessing performance against a business<br />
objective before and after software implementation.<br />
The tools: Interviews were performed to identify and understand practices that enable adoption of social technologies in the<br />
workplace. Interview data was analyzed for common themes, and case studies were created, then reviewed and approved by<br />
each participating company. Survey data was aggregated and summarized to highlight metrics in business performance before<br />
and after social software implementation.<br />
The results: The research identified six key practices organizations can use to significantly improve the adoption of new social<br />
software and to maximize the benefits of the technology.<br />
1. Describe existing business process(es) or initiative(s).<br />
Before implementing or using social software, the organization should identify collaborative business processes or initiatives that<br />
require improvement with a goal of enhancing performance, then:<br />
• interview the most important stakeholders to understand their needs;<br />
• document the steps needed to complete each process, the key stakeholders involved in these various steps, and the<br />
relevant dependencies; and<br />
• identify various aspects of the process, such as where time delays occur and why, to help clarify metrics that would be<br />
valuable in the next step of this framework. An example from the case studies is the requirement for stakeholder<br />
approval resulting in especially long delays. In addition, factors such as quality of output, access to people or<br />
information, and costs can provide information about the as-is process.<br />
2. Before making any changes, measure performance of current business process(es) or initiative(s).<br />
Identify work patterns, technology, or behaviors that describe how the process or initiative is performing in its current state. The<br />
analysis from the first step of this framework can aid in identifying the metrics for process improvement. This information can be<br />
collected through interviews, surveys, access to key performance metrics, and observational studies.<br />
3. Remodel process(es) or initiative(s) with supporting technology.<br />
Identify an expert process modeler to determine how the process can be remodeled to reduce or eliminate time delays, improve<br />
quality, or otherwise produce favorable outcomes. This knowledge can be acquired through training or partnering with a<br />
technology expert such as an assigned mentor or advocate.<br />
4. Educate users and set expectations.<br />
Organizations that integrate social technology to work within a process need to educate and inform all involved—both those<br />
who manage the process and those who implement it. Some organizations studied chose to focus on user education alone,<br />
while others also trained those responsible for oversight and execution. In some cases, management set expectations. In<br />
others, a team that had identified a better work process shared its knowledge with colleagues.<br />
Regardless of who is spearheading the adoption of social technology, organizations need to clarify:<br />
• the nature of each anticipated change;<br />
• when changes will be implemented; and<br />
• which tools will be used and which will be retired.<br />
The above can avert the adoption issues that can arise when more than one tool or approach is in use at the same time.<br />
continued on page 14
14 <strong>sdm</strong><strong>pulse</strong> fall 2015 <strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu<br />
continued from page13<br />
5. Measure performance at regular intervals.<br />
Once a new process has been instituted, the organization should revisit the metrics identified earlier to determine what effect, if<br />
any, the social technology has had. In some cases, such as customer support satisfaction, there may not be any noticeable<br />
change immediately. However, it is important to note any metrics that do show changes, such as length of time to complete the<br />
process or number of people involved, because they may provide insight over both the short and long term.<br />
Figure 1 shows the effect of implementing social technology on the key metrics identified by the five organizations studied.<br />
Organizations should compare metrics such as these before and after social software is implemented to highlight areas where the<br />
process improved significantly and areas where more improvement might be achieved. Each organization studied had a different<br />
set of metrics, different goals, and used the revised process for a different length of time—yet in all cases comparing the<br />
company’s key metrics before and after social technology implementation was imperative to assessing the success of the process.<br />
The goal of the organization’s process analysis should be to identify metrics that improved, those that remained unchanged, and<br />
those that performed poorly. For each category, the organization should identify contributing factors, such as stakeholders, process<br />
contributors, training, and technology, as discussed in Step 4.<br />
Metric Before After<br />
Case 1: Supporting Alternative Fuels Global Innovation Initiative<br />
• Percent of alternative fuels used in production 5%-7% 25%-27%<br />
• Savings associated with the alternative fuels $0 $140M<br />
initiative<br />
• Rank of alternative fuels adoption compared to Too low 1*<br />
competitors<br />
to rank<br />
Case 2: Handling Customer Localization Requests<br />
• Length of time to respond to customer request 4-8 weeks 6 days<br />
• Number of emails involved in process 61 0<br />
Case 3: Inspecting Packages for Customs<br />
• Number of inspections per day 8.62 9.09<br />
• Number of experts contacted per day 1.90 2.47<br />
• Number of packages inspected per day 13.54 14.66<br />
Case 4: Planning an International Conference<br />
• Length of time to plan the conference 6 months 3 months<br />
• Number of emails to plan conference details 200 25<br />
• Number of planning meetings 23 13<br />
Case 5: Addressing Customer Complaints<br />
• Hours spent resolving issues 29.86 14.50<br />
• Number of emails sent and received regarding 27.86 15.33<br />
issues<br />
• Number of meetings required to resolve issues 5.71 3.00<br />
* According to the Global CemFuels Award, 2014<br />
Figure 1. Key metrics for five case studies are shown before and after process improvements.
15<br />
6. Improve the process(es) or initiative(s) based on feedback and performance.<br />
Step 5 will help organizations zero in on the metrics that are changing as a result of<br />
process modifications as well as the factors contributing to those changes.<br />
Understanding these developments can help organizations see where further<br />
improvements can be made to the process or to contributing factors. In some cases,<br />
additional feedback may be required, such as data on changing levels of customer<br />
satisfaction. Data not readily available can be collected through interviews, surveys, and a<br />
variety of other feedback collection techniques.<br />
At this stage, the organization should make appropriate adjustments to the process.<br />
Organizations should return to Step 3 to remodel and describe the changes. The<br />
organizations should continue to Step 4 to re-educate users and participants and continue<br />
through the measurement and refinement of Steps 5 and 6.<br />
The results: The research indicated that using the above guidelines made it possible<br />
to assess the impact of social enterprise software implementation on a company’s<br />
key metrics.<br />
For example, in one case study, the analysis revealed that within six years, the company<br />
had significantly improved its rate of substituting fossil fuels with alternative fuels relative to<br />
its competitors. This substitution initiative generated about $140 million in savings per year<br />
and reduced the release of some 1.5 million tons of CO2 to the atmosphere annually.<br />
In another case, instituting social technology significantly improved request coordination,<br />
boosting a number of key metrics measured by the company. Email, which had been the<br />
primary mechanism for information exchange, was removed from the process, and process<br />
time decreased from up to 40 days to six days. In addition, customer response time was<br />
reduced by weeks.<br />
In a third case involving package inspections, participants reported:<br />
• an increase in the number of inspections performed, packages inspected, and<br />
experts contacted;<br />
• a reduction of approximately 15 minutes per day in the time spent on inspections;<br />
and<br />
• an improvement in the quality of information available to inspectors, access to<br />
expertise, and mobile access.<br />
These results show that following the framework described above can provide organizations<br />
with a clearer understanding of the impact of social software on their businesses. However,<br />
social software adoption is not an organizational state that can simply be achieved and then<br />
ignored. User needs are constantly changing, user-generated content begins aging the<br />
moment it is shared, and many facets of organizations—departments, processes, metrics,<br />
products, services, etc.—are as dynamic as the people within them. It is therefore important<br />
for companies to recognize that making the best use of social enterprise software requires<br />
ongoing evaluation and adaptation.
16 <strong>sdm</strong><strong>pulse</strong> fall 2015 <strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu<br />
About the Author<br />
Advancing Human-Computer<br />
Communication to Maximize Sales<br />
The challenge: In today’s fast-moving, dynamic business environment, it is tougher than<br />
ever for businesses to reach the right clients in a meaningful way and achieve results. Sales<br />
and marketing professionals need highly specialized and effective technology to source<br />
clients, engage them, and close deals.<br />
Bryan Pirtle, SDM ’13, is chief<br />
technology officer of Nova Labs, Inc.<br />
He employed techniques from MIT’s<br />
System Design & Management<br />
program to help shape the core of<br />
Nova Labs’ technology strategy and<br />
roadmap.<br />
This is especially true for top-of-funnel outreach. Even if a sales/marketing professional has<br />
carefully selected targets, “cold call” emails are almost always deleted immediately. How<br />
can prospective customers be incentivized to engage with the material for mutual benefit?<br />
The approach: Nova Labs was formed to address this challenge using an integrative,<br />
systems-based approach—coupled with deep knowledge of typical top-of-funnel<br />
challenges—to develop hyper-personalized email outreach technology that surpasses what<br />
is currently available to sales and marketing professionals.<br />
First we conducted a massive information-gathering mission by interviewing dozens of lead<br />
users in companies across the globe. The goal was to understand how potential users in<br />
the sales/marketing field spend each day on the job. Findings produced a clear view of<br />
common and best practices and typical products already in use.<br />
Next, we researched the market landscape to gain insight into what gaps exist at the<br />
leading edge of sales automation technology.<br />
Finally, we created a software-as-a-service, business-to-business product designed to<br />
meet the new-customer acquisition needs of medium and large companies. The goal of<br />
this initial product, Nova, is to optimize email outreach for clients. Nova’s underpinning is a<br />
scalable personalization technology that can be extended into other domains and ultimately<br />
become a platform for future products. This technology will enable our customers to<br />
personalize not just email, but ads, engagement/re-engagement communications, upsell<br />
opportunities, and more.<br />
The tools: The systems thinking mindset, technology strategy, and user-centered design—<br />
as well as system architecture and dynamics methodologies—that form the foundation of<br />
MIT’s System Design & Management program have provided many of the fundamental<br />
concepts on which Nova Labs built its core technology.<br />
The product design/synthesis/feedback process included:<br />
• transforming all of our documented experiences plus the synthesized information<br />
collected from the sales/marketing professional interviews into baseline product<br />
requirements;<br />
• choosing and configuring the technology stack to be used;<br />
• determining initial/future sources of information from the public Internet with which<br />
to construct meta-profiles for each prospect;
17<br />
• creating a baseline scope for the personalization technology layer;<br />
• designing the look and feel of user interfaces;<br />
• designing the “glue layer” of how data flows to/from each interface, as well as usability/user experience;<br />
• implementing all of the above in the chosen technology stack;<br />
• sourcing beta clients and releasing the product to them; and<br />
• feeding back client suggestions, concerns, and usability issues into the process to continue iterative<br />
design.<br />
After analyzing and discussing the results of our data collection efforts at length, we were able to characterize<br />
our target market as follows:<br />
• The client: Sales development representatives, account executives, and personnel in inside sales roles.<br />
• What the client does: Spends five or more hours each day researching individuals on prospect lists to<br />
determine the right personal touch to add to an initial message to engage each person.<br />
• What the client currently uses: Static, template-based, single-email, and mail-merge (multiple-email,<br />
campaign-based) platforms that convert comma-separated values documents into bland, spammylooking<br />
emails.<br />
• What the client wants: Dynamic, data-driven technology that allows for utilization of publicly available<br />
data and performance analytics to construct appropriate targeting language automatically and insert it<br />
into emails to capture each recipient’s attention and/or establish a personal connection—at scale.<br />
We thus determined that a<br />
technology that combines the<br />
successful elements of<br />
existing products on the<br />
market with an automated<br />
personalization textgeneration<br />
layer would have<br />
the potential to revolutionize<br />
sales and marketing top-offunnel<br />
and save hours per day<br />
per professional.<br />
To deliver this product, we<br />
created a robust and<br />
sophisticated software stack<br />
capable of asynchronously<br />
compiling and delivering the<br />
data needed for the<br />
personalization process<br />
and desired user experience.<br />
Our current stack with<br />
high-level relationships<br />
between components is<br />
shown in Figure 1.<br />
Personalized<br />
Email Sender<br />
Personalization<br />
Engine<br />
Public Internet<br />
Figure 1: Nova Labs’ technology stack.<br />
Platform as a Service<br />
Postgres<br />
SQL &<br />
noSQL<br />
Asynchronous Task<br />
Queue/Engine<br />
Puma<br />
Webserver<br />
Ruby on Rails<br />
REST API<br />
Chrome Extension Application<br />
AngularJS<br />
JSON<br />
continued on page 18
18 <strong>sdm</strong><strong>pulse</strong> fall 2015 <strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu<br />
continued from page 17<br />
We decided to use contemporary open-source software built upon the Heroku platform as a service in order to achieve the<br />
following goals with our stack:<br />
1. Stability, gained by using robust, mature frameworks and software platforms;<br />
2. Flexibility, attained by picking and choosing the correct open-source tools and libraries for each product need; and<br />
3. Focus on application design rather than infrastructure design.<br />
We built the primary user interface as a Google Chrome extension application. This design choice was primarily made to<br />
make use of the Google Apps mail client that most lead users preferred. We chose AngularJS as the front-end Javascript<br />
framework and “glue layer” to provide a more robust and streamlined real-time “desktop experience” in the web environment.<br />
The asynchronous and real-time data needs of the application were also simplified by the use of AngularJS. Figure 2 shows<br />
the real-time analytics in action in a campaign.<br />
Once a client uploads a list of target<br />
email addresses, the personalization<br />
engine is employed on the back end<br />
to search target sources on the<br />
Internet. The engine then constructs<br />
a meta-profile for each person using<br />
his/her email as the key. We chose<br />
several initial data sources, including<br />
social media data aggregator APIs<br />
as well as our own data scrapers<br />
and search technology. Proprietary<br />
algorithms are then used to<br />
construct the meta-profile and<br />
custom attributes—such as seniority,<br />
influence, playfulness, and<br />
international orientation—from the<br />
collected raw data.<br />
Figure 2: Screenshot of Nova’s “campaign view” with analytics data.<br />
Once the meta-profiles are constructed, the personalization engine uses natural language processing and machine learning<br />
as well as statistical analysis of past analytics data to determine the proper personalization snippets, including tone, to add<br />
to the email for each recipient. The user may also customize correspondence from all available personalization types and<br />
tones that the engine has previously created. The personalization engine learns from the choices users make to continually<br />
adapt to recipient preferences.<br />
The results:<br />
• Nova Labs has started beta testing with two dozen companies.<br />
• The pipeline increases daily with more than 200 companies expressing interest in the product.<br />
• More than 5,000 emails per week go through the Nova system.<br />
• Nova-personalized emails perform more than 500 percent better on average than control (non-personalized) emails<br />
based on numerous experiments using real-world campaigns for both prospect engagement and response rates.<br />
Nova Labs is continuing to meet its own internal milestones and is aggressively pursuing new client growth using its<br />
proprietary tools, product, and technology.
19<br />
Spring 2015 SDM Tech Trek Report<br />
A Systems-Focused Tour of Eight Top Companies in Just Four Days<br />
By Joan S. Rubin, SDM Industry Codirector<br />
High-flying startups grab attention for their innovative ways of conducting business, but the spring 2015 SDM Tech Trek<br />
demonstrated that successful companies—large and small, established and new, in a broad variety of industries—use systems<br />
thinking to achieve their strategic goals. Companies visited on the trek ranged from C3 Energy to SunEdison, Salesforce.com to<br />
AppDynamics, and from Intuitive Surgical to E&J Gallo Winery, SanDisk, and Yelp.<br />
The spring SDM trek is one of two held annually—a daylong trip each fall to businesses in Greater Boston and a weeklong visit<br />
every March to companies in the San Francisco Bay/Silicon Valley area (see page 21). Over the years, fellows, faculty, and staff<br />
have visited many companies to learn firsthand about their strategic, operational, and tactical challenges, discuss the application<br />
and value derived from systems thinking, and examine how the use of systems thinking is increasing and evolving in industry.<br />
Each trek is organized and led by SDM fellows, who target companies that will deepen their understanding of the diverse<br />
approaches available for applying systems thinking. This year’s San Francisco Bay Area/Silicon Valley trek was led by SDM ’15s<br />
Rany Polany and Deepa Fernades Prabhu. Organizational assistance was provided by all student participants as well as by<br />
SDM Industry Codirector Joan S. Rubin and SDM Director of Recruitment and Career Development Jonathan Pratt.<br />
Tech Trek goals:<br />
• Expand students’ knowledge of complex challenges across several<br />
industries.<br />
• Strengthen relationships between the companies and SDM.<br />
Companies visited:<br />
• SunEdison • Salesforce.com • AppDynamics<br />
• Yelp • Intuitive Surgical • E&J Gallo Winery<br />
• SanDisk<br />
• C3 Energy<br />
Trip highlights:<br />
• At SunEdison, Teresa Yang ’03, director of global design and<br />
engineering and Kevin Yates MBA ’13, manager of power origination,<br />
described the solar industry’s rapid evolution and discussed<br />
SunEdison’s vertical integration strategy for meeting the demands for<br />
clean, affordable energy. The visit concluded with a tour of the<br />
company’s control and logistics area, where students saw a<br />
demonstration of how uptime on the grid is planned and managed.<br />
• Director of Academic Programs Lisa Tenorio welcomed the SDM<br />
group to Salesforce.com, and Vice President of Platform<br />
Development Marketing Adam Seligman provided a corporate<br />
overview. Senior Director Sarah Franklin then presented a live<br />
demonstration of the Salesforce platform. In addition, Reena Bhatia<br />
MBA ’09, strategic innovation executive, created an interactive<br />
design session to highlight the systems thinking challenges of<br />
operating in an environment that is sustaining 30 percent to 40<br />
SunEdison<br />
Salesforce.com<br />
continued on page 20
20 <strong>sdm</strong><strong>pulse</strong> fall 2015 <strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu<br />
continued from page 19<br />
percent annual growth rates. SDM fellows were divided into groups of four and<br />
given 30 minutes to come up with a solution to a design problem. Each team<br />
presented a unique solution to an audience of Salesforce.com executives.<br />
• SDM fellows gained a multifaceted understanding of AppDynamics’ business<br />
thanks to presentations and interactions with several MIT alumni and company<br />
executives. Peter Kacandes LFM ’97 discussed the basic challenge the<br />
company is working to address—managing applications’ performance and<br />
availability across cloud computing environments as well as in its data center.<br />
Ariel Smoliar MBA ’13, principal product manager, talked about his journey to<br />
AppDynamics and the process of finding a career environment in which one<br />
can succeed. Students also had an opportunity to interact directly with staff<br />
and learn more about what it’s like to work at AppDynamics.<br />
AppDynamics<br />
• Fellows toured Yelp headquarters, focusing on the sales, product, and<br />
engineering areas. They learned about Yelp’s internal hackathon events, in<br />
which engineers are encouraged to work on nontraditional, fun, and<br />
interesting projects, then saw some of the results. Vice President of<br />
Consumer and Mobile Products Eric Singley provided an overview of product<br />
management at Yelp, and then Product Manager Stephanie Teng discussed<br />
the challenges of building global software and how Yelp addresses them. A<br />
Q&A followed.<br />
• Catherine Mohr ’90, SM ’92, an MD and vice president of clinical research at<br />
Intuitive Surgical, provided perspective on what is needed to build a<br />
successful technology. She noted that having a great idea is not enough and<br />
stressed the importance of understanding how a product can be used. She<br />
gave an overview of the company’s innovative robotic surgery technology,<br />
which SDMs had the opportunity to operate, then provided a tour of the<br />
company’s growing manufacturing operations. Mohr left the group with four<br />
key suggestions:<br />
– Keep focused on the big picture;<br />
– Dive in and do the hard work;<br />
– Be an opportunist; and<br />
– Reinvent yourself continually.<br />
• The group visited E&J Gallo Winery’s production facilities, where a<br />
leadership team from the engineering and production groups discussed the<br />
unique challenges of managing highly variable inputs (the grapes) to make<br />
a consistent and recognizable end product. The students heard from<br />
senior executives in charge of winemaking, Six Sigma, production<br />
engineering, process technology, and applied technology. A group<br />
discussion and winery tour were followed by a networking dinner with the<br />
company’s management team.<br />
• A team of SanDisk senior executives—including Stan Chapski, corporate<br />
engineering chief of staff; Shiva Estori Sathganarayan, director of operations<br />
management; Nithya Ruff, director of marketing management; and Saclin<br />
Piplani, senior director of marketing management—participated in an<br />
interactive discussion with the SDM group. The SanDisk team described the<br />
need to innovate continually in a market whose capacity doubles every 12<br />
months and emphasized the need for strong cross-functional teamwork.<br />
Lunch and small group discussions followed.<br />
Yelp<br />
Intuitive Surgical<br />
E&J Gallo Winery
21<br />
• Jake Whitcomb SDM ’12 arranged a visit to C3 Energy.<br />
Leveraging enterprise application software, the company<br />
focuses on delivering a family of smart-grid analytic products to<br />
provide end-to-end solutions—from energy grid capital asset<br />
allocation to transmission, distribution, and advanced metering.<br />
Joining Whitcomb was Ed Abbo, president and CTO, who<br />
described the emerging need for smart grid analytics and how<br />
C3 Energy has approached offering value to users in this<br />
growing market.<br />
Key takeaways:<br />
• Visiting companies in rapid succession provided valuable insight<br />
into the different cultures, strategic approaches, and challenges<br />
companies face, as well as a real-time opportunity to contrast<br />
and compare businesses.<br />
SanDisk<br />
• Interactive team-based design exercises developed by various<br />
companies gave SDM fellows an opportunity to apply systems<br />
thinking to specific challenges, demonstrate their high level of<br />
technical expertise, and rapidly develop prototype solutions. It<br />
also provided company leaders with a chance to see systems<br />
thinking in action and visualize how it can be applied within their<br />
organizations.<br />
• Meeting and engaging with SDM fellows enabled companies to<br />
experience firsthand the unique perspectives and skills students<br />
acquire at MIT SDM and to identify future graduates to recruit.<br />
• SDM fellows acquired an expanded sense of the versatility and<br />
applicability of their SDM education across industries.<br />
C3 Energy<br />
Upcoming Tech Treks<br />
Each year, MIT SDM fellows, faculty, and staff visit leaders from best-in-class companies to learn about their global<br />
business challenges and how they are using systems thinking to address them.<br />
In the upcoming academic year, SDM will hold two treks:<br />
Fall 2015<br />
October: During this one-day trek, SDM fellows will visit top technology-based companies in the Greater Boston area.<br />
Spring 2016<br />
March 21-25: This journey to companies in the San Francisco Bay/Silicon Valley area covers a wide variety of industries.<br />
If your company would like to participate, please contact Joan S. Rubin, SDM industry codirector, at<br />
jsrubin@mit.edu, 617.253.2081, or Jonathan Pratt, director of SDM recruitment and career development,<br />
at jonpratt@mit.edu, 617.327.7106.
22 <strong>sdm</strong><strong>pulse</strong> fall 2015 <strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu<br />
Snapshot: SDM and IDM Cohorts Entering in Fall 2015<br />
By Lois Slavin, SDM Communications Director<br />
On August 24, 2015, MIT welcomed two new cohorts: 60 early to mid-career technical professionals who matriculated into System<br />
Design & Management (SDM) and 18 early career design, engineering, and management professionals who comprise the inaugural<br />
Integrated Design & Management (IDM) class. As in the past, fellows in the newest SDM cohort come from a wide range of industries,<br />
among them energy, healthcare, software, information technology, consulting, robotics, and the US military. Students in IDM’s inaugural<br />
class are equally diverse, hailing from the fields of high-tech, design, sustainability, engineering, and education.<br />
MIT System Design & Management Class Entering in AY16<br />
Demographics*<br />
• 51 men / 9 women • 33<br />
Program<br />
Average age<br />
• 36 on campus / 17 commuter / 7 distance<br />
Citizenship<br />
• Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Germany, India,<br />
Indonesia, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, Morocco,<br />
Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Turkey,<br />
United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela<br />
Chris Garcia, MD<br />
Clinical/Research Fellow,<br />
Pathology Informatics,<br />
Massachusetts General Hospital<br />
“SDM will provide me with a new<br />
perspective and skill set for<br />
redesigning clinical systems and<br />
processes to help transform and<br />
improve healthcare.”<br />
Vikas Enti<br />
Manager, Data Interaction and<br />
Visualization Engineering,<br />
Amazon Robotics<br />
“SDM will enable me to solidify<br />
my systems engineering skills<br />
and develop deep business<br />
insights so that I can help create<br />
revolutionary products.”<br />
Ashley Whitney<br />
Senior Mechanical Engineer,<br />
Medical Technologies Division,<br />
Cambridge Consultants<br />
“SDM will give me the tools and<br />
perspective to tailor systems<br />
engineering to projects at<br />
varying levels of complexity.”<br />
Kate Cantu<br />
Space Acquisition Program<br />
Manager, US Air Force<br />
“I believe MIT’s reputation, and<br />
especially SDM’s, will give me an<br />
added level of credibility that can<br />
be difficult to earn as a female in<br />
a technical, leadership role.”<br />
Eugene Tham<br />
Senior Lecturer, Republic<br />
Polytechnic, Singapore<br />
“SDM will enable me to bring a<br />
management perspective to my job<br />
and will help evolve and broaden<br />
engineering education at Republic<br />
Polytechnic.”<br />
*Admissions numbers accurate as of press time.
23<br />
MIT Integrated Design & Management Inaugural Cohort<br />
Demographics<br />
• 9 men / 9 women<br />
Average age<br />
•26<br />
Program<br />
• 18 two-year option<br />
Citizenship<br />
• Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, India,<br />
Japan, Pakistan, Taiwan, United States<br />
Kevin Yuen<br />
Innovation and Strategy<br />
Consulting Associate, Innosight<br />
“IDM will help to expand my<br />
skills beyond strategic planning<br />
to include prototyping,<br />
experimenting, and<br />
implementing initiatives.”<br />
Jacqueline “Chacha”<br />
Durazo<br />
Special Projects, Title IX Office,<br />
MIT<br />
“I am going to change the world,<br />
and I believe IDM can help me<br />
prepare to do so.”<br />
Huda Jaffer<br />
Lead Designer, SELCO Foundation<br />
“My IDM education will enable me<br />
to support the SELCO Foundation<br />
in designing an ecosystem for the<br />
world’s underserved populations<br />
that integrates sustainability at all<br />
levels: social, economic, and<br />
environmental.”<br />
Sophia Yang<br />
Experience Designer, DesignMap<br />
“IDM’s emphasis on strategic and<br />
holistic thinking, interdisciplinary<br />
collaboration, and entrepreneurship<br />
can greatly benefit employers<br />
looking for hybrid professionals<br />
who can see the big picture as well<br />
as the concrete steps needed to<br />
achieve it.”<br />
Ismail Degani<br />
Cofounder, SnapJet<br />
“IDM is the ultimate startup<br />
incubator. Its emphasis on<br />
great design and large-scale<br />
commercialization is perfectly<br />
aligned with my<br />
entrepreneurial goals.”
24 <strong>sdm</strong><strong>pulse</strong> fall 2015 <strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu<br />
Jillian Wisniewski Named 2014 SDM<br />
Leadership Award Recipient<br />
On June 7, 2015, the MIT System Design & Management (SDM) community honored<br />
SDM ’14 fellow Jillian Wisniewski with the annual MIT SDM Student Award for Leadership,<br />
Innovation, and Systems Thinking. Wisniewski was honored at SDM’s postcommencement<br />
celebration at the Liberty Hotel in Boston.<br />
Created by the SDM staff in 2010, the award honors a first-year SDM student who<br />
demonstrates the highest level of:<br />
• strategic, sustainable contributions to fellow SDM students and the broader SDM<br />
and MIT communities;<br />
• superior skills in leadership, innovation, and systems thinking; and<br />
• effective collaboration with SDM staff, fellow students, and alumni.<br />
Wisniewski, who received a monetary prize with the award, was acknowledged for<br />
numerous contributions to her cohort, the SDM program, and the MIT community at large.<br />
These include:<br />
Jillian Wisniewski, SDM ’14<br />
• serving as the SDM Leadership Committee’s curriculum chair;<br />
• developing an optimization tool to assist fellows in SDM class scheduling;<br />
• delivering a seminar at Lincoln Labs on her thesis research (for more on her<br />
research, see p. 3);<br />
• serving as a teaching assistant in system dynamics courses and as a content<br />
advisor to an MFin student;<br />
• being named a student fellow at Draper Laboratory;<br />
• organizing and leading an SDM orientation for cadets at the US Military Academy,<br />
West Point; and<br />
James Barkley, SDM ’14<br />
• coaching the SDM-Operations Research Center Frisbee team.<br />
In addition to Wisniewski, this year’s nominees included James Barkley, SDM ’14, and<br />
Gaurav Khanna, SDM ’14. Barkley was recognized specifically for his roles as chair of the<br />
SDM Leadership Committee’s speaker series and social committee, as well as for broad<br />
and diverse outreach efforts within the SDM, MIT Sloan, and overall MIT communities.<br />
Khanna was cited for multiple contributions to the product management community within<br />
MIT and in the Greater Boston area.<br />
All nominees and the winner were selected by the SDM staff, with input from the first-year<br />
SDM community.<br />
Gaurav Khanna, SDM ’14
25<br />
Employment Report: 2014 SDM Graduating Class<br />
MIT System Design & Management (SDM) educates future technical leaders in architecting, engineering, and designing complex<br />
products and systems, providing them with the leadership and management skills necessary to work successfully across<br />
organizations. Graduates leave prepared to manage effectively and creatively by using systems thinking to solve large-scale,<br />
complex challenges in product design, development, and innovation. Their unique and powerful combination of technical and<br />
managerial skills equips them to effectively lead in positions throughout a wide range of industries, across all levels and functions.<br />
SDM annually surveys members of its most recent graduating class about their career paths. The resulting report provides an<br />
overview of the employment and compensation statistics gathered from self-sponsored students who graduated from the<br />
program in February, June, and September 2014. Information on the companies that hired them is also provided.<br />
Highlights of this year’s report include the following facts:<br />
• 97 percent of SDM graduates who responded to the 2014 survey are employed or<br />
pursuing further educational studies;<br />
• Graduates reported an average base salary of $122,667—an increase of 52 percent<br />
over their base salaries as reported prior to entering SDM; and<br />
• The top job functions being performed by the 2014 graduates were product<br />
development/management and engineering.<br />
Employers recruiting SDM graduates included Amazon, Analog Devices, Apple, AppDynamics,<br />
Bank of America, Boston Scientific, Chrysler, C3 Energy, Google, Intel, McKinsey, Microsoft,<br />
Tesla Motors, Salesforce.com, SanDisk, and Thomson Reuters.<br />
><br />
For the full employment<br />
report or further information,<br />
please contact Jonathan<br />
Pratt, SDM’s director of<br />
career development and<br />
recruiting<br />
jonpratt@mit.edu<br />
contact<br />
SDM Faculty Members Publish<br />
System Architecture Book<br />
Bruce Cameron, faculty member in MIT’s System Design & Management (SDM)<br />
program and director of the System Architecture Lab, and Professor Ed Crawley,<br />
SDM cofounder and president of the Skoltech Institute of Science and<br />
Technology, have released a new book, System Architecture: Strategy and<br />
Product Development for Complex Systems. Co-authored with Cornell Professor<br />
Daniel Selva, the book builds on case studies from BMW, NASA, GE, and IBM<br />
to illuminate early decision-making in complex systems.<br />
><br />
The product of 20 years of research and teaching in the<br />
A webinar on system<br />
System Architecture Lab and in SDM, the book includes<br />
architecture from the<br />
book launch is<br />
a foreword by Norm Augustine, former CEO of Lockheed<br />
available at<br />
Martin, as well as contributions from a number of past<br />
<strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu/cameron<br />
SDM guest speakers.<br />
http://
26 <strong>sdm</strong><strong>pulse</strong> fall 2015 <strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu<br />
Andrew MacInnis Named<br />
IDM Technical Instructor<br />
Matt Kressy, director of Integrated Design & Management (IDM), has<br />
announced the appointment of Andrew MacInnis as IDM’s materials and<br />
methods instructor, effective July 1, 2015. In this role, MacInnis will teach<br />
design and prototyping to the inaugural IDM class as well as oversee<br />
operations in the new Integrated Design Lab, which is located in MIT’s<br />
International Design Center.<br />
MacInnis comes to MIT with more than 20 years of iterative research and<br />
design expertise in the consumer, military, and sports industries. He also<br />
brings valuable hands-on experience gained from early career positions that<br />
evolved from shop hand to model maker, model shop manager, founder of<br />
Monster Prototype, and production manager/process developer. He holds<br />
a BFA in industrial design from the Rhode Island School of Design.<br />
“Andy is one of the most accomplished creators I have ever met,” Kressy<br />
said. “We are thrilled to have him as part of our teaching team and look<br />
forward to watching our students marvel at what they are able to<br />
accomplish under his guidance.”<br />
Most recently, MacInnis worked as product implementation manager at<br />
Revision Military, which designs and delivers protective equipment for<br />
soldiers worldwide. He was responsible for designing and establishing<br />
best practices in the composite and paint shops of the company’s<br />
composite center of excellence. He was a major contributor to the<br />
selection and refinement of materials and techniques for structural<br />
elements of a cutting-edge anti-ballistic helmet. He also wrote technical<br />
instructions and trained and managed staff.<br />
“Our students are blessed to be coming of age in an era where options<br />
abound for the creation and development of their ideas. I am excited to<br />
guide each of them along their own paths to success,” MacInnis said.
27<br />
Conference<br />
<strong>sdm</strong><br />
SDM Conference Centers on Holistic Product<br />
Design and Development<br />
The MIT System Design & Management (SDM) program’s annual Conference on Systems Thinking for<br />
Contemporary Challenges provides practical information for technical and business professionals on how<br />
to apply systems thinking to their most complex and pressing challenges. The theme for the October 7, 2015,<br />
conference is a whole systems approach to product design and development.<br />
Speakers will include engineering, design, and management leaders (many of whom are SDM alumni and faculty)<br />
from a wide range of sectors. Topics will include:<br />
• the increasing competitive imperative for products with greater consumer appeal;<br />
• why the walls separating design, engineering, and management must be torn down—and how to<br />
accomplish this;<br />
• how to build a systematic process for creating great products from great ideas; and<br />
• tools and techniques that can be pulled out of the box to help organizations develop a systems-based<br />
approach to integrating design, engineering, and management.<br />
“Systems thinking is increasingly essential to competing successfully, no matter what products or services you<br />
offer,” said Joan S. Rubin, SDM industry codirector and conference convener. “A whole systems approach to<br />
integrating design, engineering, and management can enable a critical competitive edge in quality, time-to-market,<br />
and overall success. At this conference, you will learn how leading-edge businesses are achieving this.”<br />
Rubin added that this year’s conference has been designated one of MIT’s official “spoke<br />
events” for Boston’s inaugural HUBweek. Informally referred to as Greater Boston’s answer to<br />
SXSW, HUBweek is a weeklong celebration of the innovation and energy that thrives in Boston.<br />
The SDM conference will include ample time for question-and-answer sessions at the end of each presentation as<br />
well as for networking with fellow attendees at a special reception that will take place immediately following the<br />
formal event. Attendees are also invited to the SDM Information Evening scheduled after the conference to learn<br />
more about SDM and its new Integrated Design & Management track. Details can be found at <strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu.<br />
Back-to-the-Classroom Sessions Featured<br />
This year, SDM will offer preconference back-to-the-classroom sessions with two of SDM’s best and brightest faculty<br />
members. This event, slated for the afternoon of October 6, will include:<br />
• “Transformation Through Constructive Change,” presented by Pat Hale, executive director of SDM and senior lecturer,<br />
MIT; and<br />
• “Integrated Design Approach to Prototyping,” presented by Matt Kressy, director of Integrated Design & Management<br />
and senior lecturer, MIT, and founder of Designturn.<br />
For details, please visit <strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu or contact Joan S. Rubin, SDM industry codirector, jsrubin@mit.edu.
2015<br />
fall<br />
<strong>sdm</strong> calendar<br />
28<br />
>A V A I L A B L E<br />
on<br />
demand<br />
Virtual SDM<br />
Information<br />
Session:<br />
<strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu/<br />
virtual-<strong>sdm</strong>information-session/<br />
Prerecorded<br />
webinars:<br />
<strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu/<br />
news-and-events/<br />
webinars/<br />
> Pulse<br />
online<br />
To read this edition<br />
of the SDM Pulse,<br />
as well as past<br />
issues, visit:<br />
<strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu/<strong>pulse</strong><br />
Details for all events are at <strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu.<br />
Annual MIT SDM Conference on Systems Thinking for Contemporary<br />
Challenges and Related Events<br />
All events will take place in Wong Auditorium at MIT<br />
October 6, 2015<br />
Preconference Back-to-the-Classroom Sessions<br />
Annual Alumni-Student Networking Evening<br />
October 7, 2015<br />
A Whole Systems Approach to Product Design and Development Details: See page 27<br />
MIT SDM and IDM Information Sessions<br />
Learn about the MIT master’s of science degree in engineering and management, the new Integrated<br />
Design & Management track, and the MIT-SUTD dual master’s degree program. Discuss career<br />
opportunities and network with SDM and IDM alumni, faculty, students, and staff.<br />
October 7, 2015, and December 12, 2015<br />
SDM Information Sessions (Recordings will be available on demand.)<br />
Details/registration: <strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu<br />
November 5, 2015, and December 9, 2015<br />
IDM Information Sessions (Recordings will be available on demand.)<br />
Details/registration: idm.mit.edu<br />
MIT SDM Systems Thinking Webinar Series<br />
This series features research conducted by members of the SDM community.<br />
Except where noted, all webinars are held on Mondays from noon to 1 p.m. and are free and<br />
open to all. Details/registration: <strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu.<br />
October 19, 2015<br />
Using Systems Thinking to Design Healthcare Delivery for US Military Veterans<br />
Andrea Ippolito, Presidential Innovation Fellow, White House; PhD student, MIT; SDM alumna<br />
November 2, 2015<br />
Understanding and Measuring the Impact of Enterprise Social Software on<br />
Business Practices<br />
Suzanne Livingston, senior product manager, IBM Connections; SDM alumna<br />
November 16, 2015<br />
A Systems Analysis of Tactical Intelligence<br />
Jillian Wisniewski, captain, US Army; system dynamics instructor, US Military Academy at<br />
West Point; SDM alumna<br />
November 30, 2015<br />
The Use of Hadoop-Based Analytics in the Healthcare Safety Net: Lessons Learned<br />
David Hartzband, DSc, research affiliate, Sociotechnical Systems Research Center, MIT<br />
Event listings contain all details available at press time. Final information is available at<br />
<strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu two weeks prior to each event.<br />
<strong>sdm</strong>.mit.edu