Getting to Sustain (-Able Systems) Via Using Survivable and Impose-Able Ones

Abstract

PURPOSE: Engineers report projects decaying or harsh realities intruding so project outcomes lose value [1], made worse by designers trapped in their local masteries till hurt by larger scale forces [2], [3], [4]. TOPIC: Design must handle several intrusion/imposition types: imposed by managers ruling designers; imposed by crises changing priorities, imposed by turf wars among professions, imposed by elapsed time inviting changes, imposed by victim culture in engineers. METHOD: MIT alumni on Linkedin were asked about these, their answers categorized, with descriptive stats. Seven major categories were found. RESULTS: Design must change in 6 ways: design systems and power configurations that use them, design sustainable systems that fallback into survivable system traits that fallback into imposable systems; create designers masters of 5 metasciences (design, systems, culture, innovation, quality) plus liberal arts of business for managers and social sciences of design for engineers; design cloaks hiding deeds/aims from big organization dysfunctions; apply engineering to design of policy chain processes; IN SUM: get designers designing the social power systems around their systems.

Keywords: design of social power, imposable systems, survivable systems, sustainable systems, managing and engineering common ground, power design, design “getting real”