Working Up

Working Up in Project Management, Systems Engineering, Technology, and Writing

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Entries from October 2009

Is That What I Look Like When I…?

October 29th, 2009 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips I have seen people doing some not-so-good things that I sometimes do. Yikes! I have a lot of incentive to cut down on those things. The past several days I have been around people who are complaining a lot about something. It is really annoying to be around them as they complain. […]

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Tags: Image · Learning · Observation

Spending to Reduce (???)

October 26th, 2009 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Projects to reduce work, production, or consumption should reduce costs. This corresponding reduction in costs, however, rarely occurs. Instead, an increase in cost often happens. Please be attentive to what you are doing and watch for this contrary behavior. There are many things than many people want to reduce. Consider body weight. […]

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Tags: Change · Culture · People

This will (NOT) be Easier

October 22nd, 2009 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Change is not easy. No change is easy. Don’t fool yourself into believing that changes you suggest will be the exception. Prepare for the pain. I am taking a long walk (1,000 miles, almost finished). This past week my logistics changed. All I had to do this week was walk, no backtracking […]

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Tags: Learning

The Fundamental Compliment

October 19th, 2009 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Managers and leaders should encourage their colleagues. Sometimes the well of compliments runs dry. There is, however, one fundamental compliment that is always appropriate. I was wandering through a new, unfamiliar, and uncomfortable place hoping to find something on which to anchor myself. Then I heard someone call my name. All was […]

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Tags: Communication · People

And Some Days It Rains

October 15th, 2009 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Some days it rains – literally and figuratively. Have a plan that provides a way to make use of the time. I have been outdoors all day recently while taking a walk. Guess what? Some days it rains. Sitting in the office back in Northern Virginia we would look out the window […]

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Tags: Design

I Think We’ll be Alright

October 12th, 2009 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips It seems that it is difficult to find the right type of people to hire into a project. We need people to be creative at some times and pound-it-out to do the work at other times. I found a place where we can recruit lots of such people. Saturday evening I was […]

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Tags: People

Selecting the Adjectives

October 8th, 2009 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Adjectives describe our work and the results of our work. Hence, our worked is judged by the adjective. More to the point, our work is described by the person who selects the adjective. ad·jec·tive n.   Abbr. a. or adj. The part of speech that modifies a noun or other substantive by limiting, […]

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Tags: Communication · Judgment · Observation

Familiar, Comfortable, and (Perhaps) Risk

October 5th, 2009 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips The familiar is comfortable. The comfort, however, sometimes hides risk and impending doom. Take care. I have been on the road for two weeks walking mostly through rural Alabama. This weekend I am in Tuscaloosa. This is a university town, so it differs from most of the places I have been. I […]

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Tags: Change · Communication · Culture · Risk

Clutter: Physical and Mental

October 1st, 2009 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Clutter is a bunch of things that seem to pile up and get in the way. Physical clutter is easy to see. Mental clutter isn’t easy to see. Clutter – physical and mental – tends to drain energy with no action resulting. I recommend avoiding mental clutter by putting ideas into a […]

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Tags: Ideas