To REGISTER, Please use the Teams link (MS Teams info: Meeting ID: 213 037 165 680 Passcode: ta92MW3b)
8 September 2026 6:10PM
This presentation shares my evolving journey coordinating decoupled engineering teams, each with unique styles, timelines, and quality systems. At first, I adopted a top-down strategy inspired by Copernicus’s solar system model—where one central vision guided all teams, orbiting around a common documentation process. This approach emphasized unified oversight and consistency but struggled to accommodate the diverse realities of each team. Transitioning to a more decentralized framework, I drew from Ptolemy’s model: instead of one central vision, each team was allowed its own unique viewpoint—much like individual observers interpreting the night sky. Coordination became limited, allowing teams to operate as they saw fit, contributing to the collective vision only as needed. This shift fostered greater autonomy and adaptability, but it revealed that success now relied heavily on each team’s diligence and responsibility.
To ensure alignment, I am now invoking the trust-but-verify principle and Star Trek’s Borg collective concept—recognizing that, while teams can act independently, updating and maintaining the collective consciousness requires both trust in their contributions and mechanisms for verification.
The presentation distills practical lessons in balancing autonomy with unity, inviting systems engineers to reconsider how classic models of coordination can shape modern engineering development processes.
Jason Sherey has spent more than 25 years practicing, teaching, and researching systems engineering methods, especially regarding Model-Based Systems Engineering of system platforms and product lines. Systems of interest have included facilities, trucks, tractors, engines, guidance systems, medical equipment, consumer products, maintenance systems, and manufacturing systems. Jason holds a MS in Systems Engineering and a MS in Engineering Management from Southern Methodist University and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Currently, Jason is a Senior Advisor at Eli Lilly and Company performing Portfolio Architect and System of System Engineering roles.
To REGISTER, please use the Teams Link (MS Teams info: Meeting ID: 213 037 165 680 Passcode: ta92MW3b)