Working Up

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

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Entries Tagged as 'Reaction'

Do What Is Best (Or at Least Do What Is Better)

February 26th, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes, the better thing to do is let people do what they think is best or at least what they think is better on any given day. “We are a fill-in-the-blank organization. We use best fill-in-the-blank practices as described by fill-in-the-second-blank who described fill-in-the-blank in the seminal blog post on fill-in-the-blank,” said […]

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Tags: Decide · Management · Mistakes · People · Permission · Practice · Reaction

Connecting Games, Simulations, and Real Life

February 15th, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Games are simulations of real life. Some games simulate real life better than others. The key is to connect the simulations to real life in a meaningful manner. Games are simulations. The Monopoly game is supposed to simulate business, commerce, and acquiring wealth or something like that. Tick-Tack-Toe simulates spatial logic and […]

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Tags: Experiment · Management · Reaction · Reality

Nip It in the Bud

August 10th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Accepting poor performance and low-quality products sets a precedent. The longer this lasts, the more difficult it is to change the situation. Comedian Don Knotts had this routine playing Barney Fife on the Andy Griffith Show. “Nip it in the bud,” was the punchline that was punched over and over. I still […]

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Tags: Change · Leadership · Learning · Management · Reaction

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 […]

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

Time to React

June 6th, 2022 · No Comments

By Dwayne Phillips Time is a marvelous tool. Allow time between an action or event and the reaction or the feedback for the event. I have spoken at large gatherings many times in my career (500 or 600 persons attending, most of them staying awake). I enjoy it. When I am finished speaking, I am […]

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Tags: Communication · Event · Listening · Reaction · Talk · Time

A Place to Belong (after being isolated)

June 2nd, 2022 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Americans are coming out of isolation from our reaction to the virus. One result is a growing trend to form unions. There is a growing trend in America to form unions for workers in coffee shops, restaurants, warehouses, etc. The obvious explanation is that these places have become rich and have not […]

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Tags: Commitment · Expectations · Expertise · Observation · Reaction · Remote Work · Virus · Work

I Said that Last Week, Too

January 6th, 2022 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Common thoughts foretell a general consensus. Someone tells me something. Wait, I said that last week when talking to yet another person. Wait, two independent conversations with different audiences, and the same idea is stated. There is a trend here. A consensus is forming. Perhaps great minds think alike (wouldn’t it be […]

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Tags: Communication · Ideas · Practice · Reaction · Synergy

Where is Their Energy?

September 30th, 2021 · No Comments

Dwayne Phillips We can tell when we have affected another person by observing their energy. One of the better questions to ask when trying to convince or teach or somehow affect another person is, “When do they gain energy?” Consider: At what point does the other person change their posture? That is the energy. That […]

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Tags: Change · Energy · Influence · Notice · Observation · Reaction · Visibility

The Denial of Service Attack

August 30th, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips What we saw with gas stations is known as a Denial of Service (DoS) attack. Flood a business with customers and the business fails. The scary part is that someone learned from the situation. Back in May of 2021 (boy, that seems like a long time ago), a pipeline was closed due […]

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Tags: Concepts · Customer · Failure · General Systems Thinking · Observation · People · Reaction

Our Reaction to…

May 20th, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Once again, its not the event, its our reaction to the event. Here is an exercise in reading news headlines. Read the headlines (these are paraphrased from the Washington Post on one day): Virus tied to increased risk of neurological and psychiatric illness The pandemic has caused parents to slow down Expanding […]

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Tags: Adults · Alternatives · Choose · Management · Reaction · Reframe