Working Up

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

Working Up header image 4

Entries Tagged as 'Excuses'

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 […]

[Read more →]

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

Meta Mistakes

March 9th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Some of the worst mistakes I make are my mistakes about my mistakes and the corrections of my mistakes. Confused? Most of us are. We all make mistakes. Sorry to write that, but it is true. Then we make meta mistakes. These are mistakes about our mistakes and the corrections of our […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Accountability · Choose · Excuses · Leadership · Learning · Mistakes · Reaction

The Computer is Down

March 2nd, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips We seem to be far more tolerant of technical failures. When I was a kid (we played baseball in the streets and things like that), I often heard the excuse, “The computer is down.” That excuse brought all sorts of grievous vexation that excuses usually bring. It was recognized as an excuse […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Accountability · Artificial Intelligence · Competence · Computing · Excuses · Technology

The Document is a Person

October 28th, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Some persons know what they want, but they don’t have the resources to tell me. Perhaps they don’t know what they want. Perhaps they have many other reasons for passing me to another person. Perhaps I should just stay away. Do you want to know what I want? Talk to Mr. ABC. […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Communication · Excuses · Listening · Management

Of Course They were doing That

July 15th, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips We sometimes are surprised at what some persons will do. We shouldn’t be. A recent story reminds us of an oft-repeated story: people will do that. Yes, even that. The recent story is about how some persons working at Facebook used their inside administrative privileges to “spy” on other persons. There were […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Accountability · Excuses · Leadership · Management · Privacy · Respect

The Age of Algorithms (a convenient excuse)

July 5th, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Sorry folks, “the algorithm found the answer that I used” is just another excuse. We choose what to do one way or another. “The computer made me do it!” Well, actually it was the algorithm underlying the software that runs on the computer. Hmmm. Who built the computer? Who created the algorithm? […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Alternatives · Choose · Decide · Design · Excuses · Tools

Any Excuse, Any Reason

October 26th, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips When something does not hold up to rational analysis, any excuse or any reason is as good as another. And when no excuse or reason comes to mind now, we will think of something later. A recent xkcd cartoon had a wonderful punchline, “No, for another reason I’ll think of later.” The […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Excuses · Myth · Questions · Stories · Teaching

Writing in Tough Times (Let’s Stop Kidding Ourselves)

April 9th, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Writing is tough on any day. Things now are tough for some of us in some ways on some days. Writing is still tough and still possible. Let’s stop kidding ourselves. I have read a dozen blog posts about “writing in tough times.” These are tough times, right? Well, in some ways […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Excuses · Writing

Happening and Reasoning

November 25th, 2019 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Everything happens for a reason (or two) or perhaps things happen and we create reasons to explain them. Funny how we often work backwards. Something happens and we proclaim, “I knew it would happen. We had this and that and they are reasons for what happened.” Few say these reasons before the […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Estimation · Excuses · Failure · Reaction · Review

Deep Fake Prevention #2

November 7th, 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. A few months back, I wrote about preventing harm from deep fake videos. That advice was to live in such a way that I could say, “You know me. […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Excuses · Expectations · Fun