How a Galaxy Far, Far Away was Saved by a Systems Engineer
[Spoiler Alert for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story]
I’m not sure if the galaxy in Star Wars ever formalized the field of Systems Engineering the way we have in our corner of the Milky Way, but if they did, Galen Erso would be at the top of the list of Systems Engineers worth their salt.
Rogue One tells us the story of Galen’s sacrifice and triumph. He endured over 15 years of everyone believing he was a traitor to his values because he realized that the Empire would find a way to meet its objective whether he participated or not. Galen explains, “I did the one thing nobody expected. I lied. I learned to lie. I played the part of a beaten man resigned to the sanctuary of his work. I made myself indispensable, and all the while, I laid the groundwork of my revenge.”
Turns out Galen was able to sabotage this horrific, moon-sized battle station by designing an imperceptible, catastrophic flaw. This tiny flaw becomes the new hope of the rebellion.
“You’re confusing peace with terror”
The mission of the Death Star was to bring peace and security to the galaxy. The Empire was operating under the premise that the Rebels were the largest threat to this objective and that they needed to be forced into surrendering. They acted as if they, along with their emperor, were the only stakeholders in the galaxy. However, Galen demonstrated that he understood that everyone in the galaxy was a stakeholder as a potential victim of this weapon and was successful in developing a system that met the needs of the empire (a functional battle station) with those of the rebellion (a weapon able to be destroyed with a single photon bomb).
Designing a moon-sized structure to be destroyed with a single photon bomb is no easy feat. Looking through the lens of systems engineering, we truly see how much of an accomplishment this was. To guarantee that the Death Star would be destroyed, he had to do careful analyses of the modes of failure in secret to determine which catastrophic reactions were unlikely to escape the scrutiny of risk management.
With this careful attention to detail and the guidance of the Force, Galen’s plans came to fruition, and the Rebels were able to destroy the Death Star and save the galaxy from the Empire’s reign of terror.
References:
Image: Galen with Death Star. (n.d.-a). https://assets1.ignimgs.com/2016/10/13/galenerso1280jpg-f47da9_160w.jpg?width=1280
Risk Scorecard. (n.d.-b). https://www.guidelinesforgirlguides.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/consequences-e1468388402455.jpg
Walden, D. D., Roedler, G. J., Forsberg, K., Hamelin, R. D., & Shortell, T. M. (2015). Systems engineering handbook: A guide for system life cycle processes and activities. Wiley.
Walt Disney Studios. (2016). Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
