The connecting thesis
The statement of why these teams do these things, tying several teams' work to a few department-level outcomes. It is what separates a strategy from a wish list. Without it you have the bottom-up roadmap.
Evidence grade: practice A widely adopted practitioner model with clear provenance.
Use it when
Reviewing any department roadmap; setting a manager of managers' own objectives at the altitude of outcomes.
Where it stops working
A thesis that a team lead cannot recite governs nothing. It has to be communicated as a campaign, and a document alone will not do it.
Where the standard uses it
- SV-1Engineering strategyTranslating business goals into technical direction, and writing it down.
Used alongside it
- Outcome versus output practice
- Strategy, vision, and roadmap practice
- Writing the strategy down practice
Cite this model
Chicago, BibTeX and licence →Engineering Management Academy. (2026). The connecting thesis. In Engineering Management Academy Body of Knowledge (Version 3.1, TEC.connecting-thesis). https://www.engineeringmanagement.academy/body-of-knowledge/techniques/connecting-thesis