How to Know If Your Team Is Really Doing MBSE

Self-Assessment Guide

Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) is more than drawing diagrams or using a modeling tool — it’s a disciplined approach to systems engineering that uses models as the primary means of information exchange.
If your team claims to “do MBSE,” this guide will help you evaluate whether you’re actually achieving MBSE in practice or just dabbling in modeling.

1. Understanding the Core of MBSE

Quick Test: Can your entire team explain MBSE in one clear sentence that matches industry definitions?

• True MBSE: Models are the authoritative source of truth (ASoT) for requirements, design, analysis, and verification.
  
  
• Common Pitfall: Using PowerPoint diagrams or isolated SysML drawings without integrating them into a system model.
  
  

Self-Check Question:

If your model disappeared tomorrow, would your project lose critical information or some of its pictures?

2. The MBSE Maturity Spectrum

MBSE adoption is not binary — it’s a continuum. Here’s a quick maturity scale to help you benchmark.

3. Key Self-Assessment Areas

A. Authoritative Source of Truth

• Is your system model the master record for requirements, architecture, behavior, and verification data?
  
  
• Are documents generated from the model, not manually written and loosely synced?
  
  
• Can new team members navigate the model to find information without asking three people first?
  
  

If not: You may be using models for decoration, not engineering.

B. Requirements in the Model

• Are requirements captured, linked, and traceable inside the model environment?
  
  
• Can you run an impact analysis in minutes, not days?
  
  
• Does the model flag unlinked or unverified requirements automatically?
  
  

If not: You may be stuck in “requirements spreadsheet with a SysML garnish” mode.

C. Lifecycle Integration

• Does the model connect concept, design, analysis, and test phases?
  
  
• Are you using the same model across all lifecycle stages, or does each team have its own silo?
  
  
• Is there traceability from stakeholder needs all the way to test results?
  
  

If not: You might be doing “Phase-by-Phase MBSE,” which isn’t the real deal.

D. Collaboration and Accessibility

• Can multiple stakeholders (engineering, management, test, suppliers) view and interact with the model?
  
  
• Is there a review process where the model is central — not a separate, afterthought artifact?
  
  
• Is version control applied to the model?
  
  

If not: Your MBSE is likely a single-player game.

E. Analysis and Simulation

• Are you running trade studies, performance analysis, or simulations directly from model data?
  
  
• Does the model inform decision-making, or is it built after decisions are made?
  
  
• Are you integrating with analysis tools (e.g., MATLAB, Simulink, etc.)?
  
  

If not: Your “MBSE” may just be a “MBDE” (Model-Based Diagramming Exercise).

4. Red Flags You’re Not Really Doing MBSE

• The model is only updated before big reviews.
  
  
• You have to recreate diagrams from scratch in different tools manually.
  
  
• The “modeler” is a single person, not a team activity.
  
  
• Decisions are made outside the model, then backfilled into it.
  
  
• The model doesn’t match what’s being built.
  
  

📖 Related Reading: Drawings Don't Equal Models: What Is Real MBSE?

5. How to Improve Your MBSE Practice

If your self-assessment shows gaps, start with these steps:

1. Establish the Model as the ASoT — All requirements, architectures, and test links live there first.
   
   
2. Automate Document Generation — Reports, diagrams, and deliverables should be outputs, not separate work products.
   
   
3. Integrate Across Lifecycle Tools — Link your MBSE tool with requirements management, simulation, and test tools.
   
   
4. Build a Modeling Culture — Train the team, not just one “modeling expert.”
   
   

Measure MBSE Value — Track improvements in traceability, defect discovery, and review efficiency.

6. Self-Assessment Worksheet

Bottom Line:
If your answers are mostly “No,” you’re not alone — many teams are in the early stages. MBSE adoption is a journey, and this self-assessment is your map. The goal isn’t to be perfect overnight but to move toward a model-driven culture where the model is the engineering.