Working Up

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

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Sharing Risk: What Do You Have to Lose?

January 25th, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips In our personal lives, we often take all the risk without asking others to share it. The basic, but rarely asked, question is, “What does each person have to lose?” I am sitting here sipping coffee pondering what to do. Someone is asking me to wait, and wait, and wait. Perhaps they […]

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Tags: Accountability · Alternatives · Conversation · Differences · Economics · Respect · Risk

The Edge and the Center

May 9th, 2022 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips The edge is that area between the center of two places. Things are different at the edge. Try to remember the difference. I recently spent a few of strenuous days cleaning a fence row. A fence row comprises the ground a couple feet each side of a fence. In my case, the […]

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Tags: Adapting · Context · Differences · Expectations · Learning · Notice · Observation

Telephone and Smartphone

December 2nd, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips When the terrain and the map differ, believe the terrain. It is there in front of us. We ignore this at our peril. We have a telephone (at least I still do in my home) and a smartphone. We call both of them “phones.” Their names are the same. How we represent […]

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Tags: Alternatives · Appearances · Choose · Differences · Experiment · General Systems Thinking

No Parking, Fire Zone

August 9th, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips We each have threats that we value and threats that we ignore. I sit here in a coffee shop drinking plain old coffee while writing. In the year of the virus, persons walk in wearing their theatrical masks to show concern for a threat. They grab their coffee, walk out, and sit […]

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Tags: Change · Coffee · Differences · Health · People

Remember Before the Virus…

June 11th, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips I guess we changed our minds about a few things. Remember when we wanted to remove harsh chemicals from our homes? We wanted to use simpler soap and water to clean things. Now we want chlorine to disinfect our lives. Chlorine was invented in WWI (that was 1914-1918 for non history buffs) […]

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Tags: Differences · Remember

The Logical Conclusion … Need Not Reach Its Conclusion

March 12th, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips We can think to the logical conclusion of a concept. We, however, can choose not to go to that conclusions. We rarely do. The logical conclusion of free enterprise is slavery. The logical conclusion of free speech is hate. The logical conclusion of survival of the fittest is murder. Many more examples […]

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Tags: Adults · Alternatives · Analysis · Choose · Decide · Differences · Ethics

You Started It

December 30th, 2019 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Why are we arguing? You, or was it me, started it. And how do we have necessary discussions without starting an argument? We often perform better when united than when divided. (Often, not always.) We seem to divide when we argue. Who started the argument? You did. You raised the subject of […]

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Tags: Conversation · Differences · Patience · Time

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 areĀ  just thatā€”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

Explaining

November 28th, 2016 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes, all that is needed is to explain the other people. This may be the most difficult task in the world. Some people just don’t understand some other people. Why not? Because those are other people who are somewhere else. The two groups of people need someone who lives with one group […]

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Tags: Clarity · Communication · Differences · Group · Ideas

Me, and Something from Me

May 9th, 2016 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Life is much easier when I distinguish myself from things that I produce. I write. I write blog posts, books, magazine articles, and lots of documents at work. People tear up some of the things I write. That can hurt, if I don’t know the difference between me and something I wrote. […]

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Tags: Choose · Communication · Differences · General Systems Thinking