Body of Knowledge · Glossary
Connecting thesis
The statement of why these teams do these things, tying several teams' work to a few department-level outcomes. Without one, you have a bottom-up roadmap.
Where the standard develops it
- SV-1Engineering strategyTranslating business goals into technical direction, and writing it down.
Related terms
- Bottom-up roadmap
- A department "strategy" assembled from team wish lists, with no connecting thesis.
- Engineering strategy
- The written translation of business goals into technical direction.
- Outcome versus output
- Framing work as the change wanted in the world instead of the thing to be built.
- Structure follows strategy
- Changes in strategy require changes in structure, and structures that outlive the strategy that produced them become the obstacle to the next one.
Cite this definition
Chicago, BibTeX and licence →Engineering Management Academy. (2026). Connecting thesis. In Engineering Management Academy Body of Knowledge (Version 3.1, GLO.connecting-thesis). https://www.engineeringmanagement.academy/body-of-knowledge/glossary/connecting-thesis