Working Up

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

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Telecommuting and Shipping

June 3rd, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Working from home? Ship. End of questions about working from home. Fourteen months into the pandemic, many of us are still working from home. We are about to go back to the office building. I think. I am not sure. There are still questions about this telecommuting, telework, work from home, and […]

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Tags: Culture · Employment · Expectations · Goals · Myth · Remote Work · Time · Work

You Don’t Belong Here…so PLEASE Stay

June 24th, 2019 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Outsiders, drifters, those who aren’t like us. These are the persons we need the most. We need people here and now who don’t belong here and now. How else would we learn anything? This is pretty simple. With a little thought, most of us would agree with it. Most of us, however, […]

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Tags: Culture · Learning

We Like Agile, Until We Don’t

January 8th, 2018 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips In Agile Development, we are supposed to talk to one another each day. Sometimes, however, we just didn’t sign up for this talking stuff. In Agile Development, we are supposed to talk to other persons. We are supposed to sit next to other persons and work with them. All of us are […]

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Tags: Agility · Communication · Culture · Programming

The Folly of the Birth Certificate

August 24th, 2017 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Basing decisions on a person’s age is a bad practice and always has been. Individual persons are  just that—individual persons. Groups have tendencies. Oh the horror of that statement, but it has some truth behind it. One of the greater follies of this post (post(post)) modern era is that of the “digital […]

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Tags: Culture · Differences · Expectations · Generation Y

A Numbers Game

September 19th, 2016 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips This is simple. Have more people working with you, and success is much more likely to come your way. This one cannot be overstated. Linus Torvalds is famous for stating it, but many others have also stated it many times over many years. Anything that increases the number of people working a […]

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Tags: Communication · Culture · Freelance · Group

Not a Good Fit – Part 2

September 12th, 2016 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips The second major explanation of what “not a good fit” means. Now for the second explanation (the first was in the immediately preceding post). This explanation is a bit more complex. Basically, it is the interviewing organization is mismanaged, a.k.a., they don’t know what they are doing. The interviewing organization is overworked. […]

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Tags: Competence · Culture · Integrity · Management

Not a Good Fit – Part 1

September 8th, 2016 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips The first explanation of what “not a good fit means.” I apply for a job. I interview face-t0-face with a team of persons. Several days later I receive the form email stating, “sorry, you are not a good fit.” What does that mean? I have two main explanations. This post will give […]

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Tags: Culture · Employment

Plan Your Work, Work Your Plan (even in Agile)

May 26th, 2016 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips I emphasize fundamentals in my work. One such fundamental is the old cliche about planning and working (see title). I find it still applies—even with “new” methods like Agile. Plan your work, work your plan I heard that a lot in the 1980s. I find it to be one of those things […]

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Tags: Agility · Culture · Lifecycle · Management

Our Bad Customer

May 19th, 2016 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes we are stuck with a bad customer. We still choose how we live and work. Alright, our customer is bad. They gripe all the time, show no appreciation for our efforts. They are, however, our customer and they pay our bills. So now what? We will: work everyday work smart have […]

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Tags: Choose · Culture · Work

The Power of Collaboration (or is it just silly?)

February 18th, 2016 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips I repeat an old, old story. Does it illustrate the power of collaboration or is it just another old, silly story that we tell children to have them behave? The old story… There was a farmer who grew excellent quality corn. Every year he won the award for the best grown corn. […]

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Tags: Culture · Fable · Trust