MIT Engineering Systems Division
Much of my project work at MIT currently is with the Lateral Alignment in Complex Systems Working Group. This group is studying how partners & stakeholders in very large systems interrelate & how these interrelations can be made more productive. It is often the case in complex organizational systems that partner & stakeholder alignment is the most important issue in project success, even more so than the content of the work that is produced. Alignment, in this sense, will provide the context for whether the results of a project can be accepted & acted on, or in many cases whether a project can even be completed. We have defined lateral alignment as “Formal and informal patterns of interaction, structures and systems that serve to orient and connect inter-dependent stakeholders over time so as to advance both their internal, separate interests and their collective system-wide interests.” Current projects with this group include:
U.S. 24-hour air traffic (Summer, 2003) |
- Assessing & improving lateral alignment for the Joint Planning & Development Office (JPDO), a cross-agency (Department of Transportation & Department of Defense) body linking the FAA, NASA & the Department of Homeland Security to work on developing the Next Generation Air Transport System for the United States.
- Stakeholder alignment for regional economic innovation in conjunction with the Greater London Economic Council & the Cambridge (University)-MIT Initiative (CMI) – a study to determine strategicalignment among economic councils focused on innovation in SE England.
I have also been doing a limited amount of teaching. I had the privilege of team-teaching the Sloan Undergraduate Management course (15.588) the first time it was offered with my friend & colleague Professor Tom Kochan. I also acted as the Discussant for the ESD Doctoral Seminar (ESD 83) in the Fall semester, & am working with several ESD Doctoral students on their research programs. |
