The Systems Engineering (SE) field is moving rapidly into commercial industries. Also, SE has more recently been combined
with Leanto make it more suitable for highly competitive applications. This paper seeks to explore the application of LSE in a
practical project, including the design, build and test of an ultra energy-efficient vehicle for Shell Eco-marathon– an annual
world-wide student competition. The objective is to identify critical factors for implementation of LSE essentials to teams
managing the development of complex products. The environment is suitable for studying LSE implementation in a controlled
manner, without many of the disturbing factors in industrial projects. The cyclic nature of the project with new teams every
year working to improve last year’s systems simulates common real-world problems such as lack of value due to information
lost in handoffs and deficient documentation of knowledge. A lean assessment was applied to identify fields with the greater
improvement potential: knowledge management and continuous improvement. It is concluded that Visual Workflow Management
provides concurrent focus in both fields, while introducing lean to manage project work. Hence, the team achieved a culture for
learning, communication and making knowledge transferable; changing the team culture was essential to make LSE successful.