Abstract:

It is well known that engineering students have in their educational plan specific subjects related to areas such as mathematics, exact sciences, spatial vision, or project management, to mention a few. However, it is not so common to find that in their training plans they have complementary subjects or programs that contribute to their training in soft skills related to the holistic vision necessary to solve complex problems in an effective and efficient way, and above all, taking into account the specificity of each complex situation in the proposal and design of technological solutions, which is a critical skill of the leaders needed in the current era.

At the initial stage of any systemic intervention by engineers, they need the tools to address the problem appropriately. Experts in requirements specification advocate the need to invest sufficient effort to understand the problem before starting the design and development of any solution, as failure to do so implies costs of rework, redesign, and refactoring that result in projects which are more expensive than expected, delays in product delivery, and ultimately a poorer reputation with customers. In a few words: it is better to invest enough effort in a correct understanding and knowledge of the problem to be solved than to try to advance quickly in the project, getting it wrong, and having to correct major flaws.

To tackle this, this paper describes a complementary training proposal for engineering students, consisting of a specific training program in soft and hard skills related to systems thinking applied to complex problem-solving. The program comprises two main blocks:
Block 1 - Practical initiation to systemic thinking: consists of the seeding of a holistic vision through contextualizing interactive games.
Block 2 - From thinking to acting systemically: consists of a series of workshops to reinforce the practice of holistic vision using technological tools to support the structuring of complex problems.

In Block 1, students are invited to participate in games that, besides being attractive to them, explicitly make them think systemically. Examples are "The Beer Game", a game about the supply chain in beer marketing, or "Fish Banks LTD", a game that allows them to understand the dynamics of fish production in a defined area. The games to be used were designed to lead participants to think holistically with the objective of "winning" the game. The games are followed by a reflective session that helps to consolidate learning about holistic approaches to a situation.

In block 2, from thinking to acting systemically, some tools are used to prepare students for modeling and structuring problems considering complexities, interactions, and the need for interpretative variety. An example of the tools to be used is the System Dynamics Elicitor App, which promotes the co-construction and co-design of system dynamics models or Checkland's Soft Systems Methodology and its "Rich Picture creation", a methodological sub-process that guarantees the "better" understanding and modeling of concrete problem situations.

Partial results of the pilot experiment are shown in which the two training blocks described above have been put into practice. The training program is formalized with its suggested credits to be recognized and the suggested delivery method based on the pilot experience.

Keywords:

Systems Thinking, System Dynamics, Problem-solving, Systemic View, Educating Leaders.