Increasing complexity in market and business requires broad system architects/engineers. These system architects play an integrating role between many specialized engineers and other stakeholders during the creation of systems. They focus on customer value as well as their own company business proposition, while they at the same time are expert in their technical and application domain. As a system architect, you work at the crossroad of systems, customer, and organizational needs. Consequently, you are regularly facing conflicting needs, opinions, and interests. Given this context, how do you lead the design team effectively? How do you balance innovation and risk mitigation, installed base and new systems, short term and long term? How do you share vision and make pragmatic choices at the same time? You (may) want to grow your impact and realize you need to broaden scope and develop technical leadership skills. The training System Architecting focusses on three areas:

1. What you KNOW - system architecting

2. What you DO - influencing and leading others

3. Who you ARE - personal leadership

Developing these three areas will build your skills and confidence in dealing with complexity effectively.

The training is offered as an inhouse, or multi company program. In both programs real life product development cases from your own company are combined with on-the job training and additional coaching. Companies sign in with one or more teams of 2-4 participants.

A typical program has a lead time of approximately nine months and consists of five to six short modules, including evening sessions. Before entering a program a thorough intake with senior management is organized. In a multi-company program we are aiming for five-six non-competing companies.

All learnings will be applied on company business case(s), to be selected by you and your sponsors. As we know that most agendas are full already, we strongly suggest to select a topic that is already assigned to you. Please consider the following things in selecting a case:

⦁ It is of significant importance to your company and requires regular alignment with stakeholders at multiple levels.

⦁ It is positioned at (sub) system level including technical, customer and business aspects.

⦁ A multi-dimensional analysis in both the problem and solution domain is needed.

• Understand how the architecting process fits in the much broader set of company processes

• Understand the priorities of company processes and their mutual relationships

• Be able to elicit requirements from different perspectives

• Be able to apply a collection of system architecting methods and techniques

• Be able to manage expectation level of different stakeholders

• Be able to present architectural issues to less technical management teams

• Have insight in the many psychological, social, political and cultural aspects that have impact on systems architecting

• Be better in dealing with ambiguity and conflicting perspectives

• Be able to better influence others without using power

• Better understand and manage yourself (what inspires you as well as personal insecurities)

• A five to ten year background in engineering, some years within architecting included.

• A growth mindset, willing to learn new things, open for making mistakes and receiving feedback.

• A case to apply learnings on.

• A sponsor in your own organization to receive content coaching and feedback/support from.