PPI had the pleasure of attending, sponsoring and exhibiting at the INCOSE IS in Hawaii this year. We hope that you too enjoyed the event and left with many new insights and connections.

PPI Principal Consultant and Course Presenter Randall Iliff shares his highlights and reflections on the event:

The opening plenary speaker, Matthew Kamakani Lynch, reminded all of us that systems are much more than just our day job, and that most of the natural systems that life depends upon are experiencing a period of unmanaged change. My friend and colleague Richard Beasley asked the obvious question about everyone meeting on an island and the travel involved in such an event.

What I took away from the question, and Matthew’s eloquent response, was that being mindful of the required energy investment to attend in person placed a responsibility on me to maximize my connections at the IS and thus unlock the greatest possible emergent benefit for the world. Further, that perspective places a responsibility on me not to squander the gift of new connections, but instead to nurture each of those seedlings over time just as I might with a product family or other valuable IP holding.

My wish is that everyone who attended the IS, in person or virtually, takes a moment to reflect on the enormous potential return on investment that keeping even a few new connections alive offers. Those connections might be to mentors, professional peers, or providers of tools and knowledge we utilize to accomplish the magic of SE.