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Entries Tagged as 'Authentic'

The Most-Heard Sermon of All Time

December 25th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Three generations ago, an eight-year-old told us the reason for the season. The most-heard sermon of all time was delivered by an 8-year-old boy voicing a cartoon in 1965. Christopher Shea spoke the words below in A Charlie Brown Christmas. That sermon has been heard by millions or hundreds of millions of […]

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Tags: America · Authentic · Brevity · Christmas · Clarity

Apology

July 31st, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips An apology is just that—an apology. It is neither an explanation nor a justification. Rats! An apology is simple: I did this wrong. I am sorry for that. I ask your forgiveness. An apology does not contain an explanation: I was trying to do such-and-such and … An apology does not contain […]

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Tags: Accountability · Adults · Authentic · Change · Communication · Conversation · Error · Ethics · Excuses · Honesty

In Praise of the Table

May 11th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips In which I consider what is the ultimate purchase for the home, family, and home business: the table. Consider the humble flat horizontal surface. Narrow the consideration to the kitchen table with four chairs. A quick search shows plenty of choices from $100 on up. Let’s settle for $150. A family eats […]

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Tags: Adults · Authentic · Concepts · Conversation · Economics · Family · General Systems Thinking

The Real Work

November 24th, 2022 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Busy at work? But are we doing the real work? Consider for a moment the “fast food industry” in America. I think we Americans invented this endeavor. What are the key words? I believe #1 is “industry” and #2 is “fast.” The concept of “food” is … well, not so important. This […]

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Tags: Appearances · Authentic · Employment · Practice · Work

Friendly Testers

November 17th, 2022 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips It may be a good idea to have your friends test your system. Who should test your system? Who should tell you what they think about your idea? Who should read the manuscript of your novel? Friends or a “friendly audience” may be the answer to these and related questions. Consider the […]

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Tags: Authentic · Honesty · Information · Learning · Testing

Do You Want to Communicate?

November 22nd, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Of course we want to communicate. That is a basic. Nevertheless, here is a small test to measure the actual desire to communicate. Here is a quick test to measure a person’s desire to communicate to others. Here is a blank piece of paper. Here is a pencil. Write three things (plus […]

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Tags: Authentic · Choose · Clarity · Communication · Growth · Testing · Writing

Just do It! Are You Kidding?

November 19th, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips We “just” … Nothing is easy. We might as well describe the situation as it is. Everything is easy if someone else is supposed to do it. When I have to do it, not so easy. Yet, we describe things as easy. We’ll just do this and that and be done with […]

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Tags: Authentic · Competence · Conversation · Expectations · Humility · Word

The Authority Thermocline

October 1st, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips If I work directly for you, I will do as you say. If, however, your are three or four levels distant, meh. A number of years ago I wrote about the information thermocline. Bureaucracies tend to reduce the flow of information as it attempts to pass from the top to the bottom. […]

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Tags: Authentic · Communication · Management · Work

Stop Listening; Start Paying Attention

January 23rd, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips In addition to hearing the message, pay attention to the meta-message. A few years ago, I wrote here about stop listening—cautiously—and start teaching. This current post regards stop listening to the individual words; pay attention to the meta-message or the message about the message. Someone comes to me with anger. They don’t […]

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Tags: Authentic · Communication · Listening · Meta

Deep Fake Prevention

July 8th, 2019 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Technology enables us to fake photos and videos. We can make anyone appear to say and do anything. Preventing such is quite simple. Someone makes a deep fake video of me saying and doing something I neither said nor did. How do I disprove it? “You know me. You know I wouldn’t […]

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Tags: Authentic · Trust