Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips Most computer programmers and builders of systems see ourselves as being helpful to the people who use the things we build. Beware, as most users of the things we build see us as interfering in their lives. This situation applies to must people in the world who see themselves as helpful (consider, […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Difficult experiences can change your perspective on what is difficult and what is easy. I recently went through such a difficult experience. Now, if I could just recreate that in a safe place so that others can grow as well. On Friday afternoon December 18th, my wife, youngest son, and I started […]

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by Dwayne Phillips This past week I spent a day at the funeral of my Uncle Lawrence. We always called him L. O. Uncle L. O. was buried in the town of Jennings, Louisiana near Interstate 10 in the southwest corner of the state. He was born and raised there and met and married my […]

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by Dwayne Phillips There are words we can say that change situations and sometimes even our lives. “Up until now” are a few words that can erase reputations from our past. I have learned a few magic words through the years. Say these words aloud, and the situation changes. A few magic words are “up […]

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by Dwayne Phillips People don’t predict the future well. A problems is that we attempt to predict the future often. Failing to predict the future can bring labels like “liar” and “moron.” Take care when you are about to predict the future. People often predict the future. Let’s change that a little: people often attempt […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Technical debt in a system builds as changes are made to the system. At some point, the expense and risk of the next change is prohibitive. This is the first post I will make about fill-in-the-blank debt. These all go back to the concept of technical debt in a technical system. Systems […]

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by Dwayne Phillips If you are a leader or manager, the people who work with and for you are watching and listening. Bob Sutton recently had a blog post with the theme being, leaders get the behavior they model and tolerate Most leaders and managers understand this little concept. Most manageres even agree with this […]

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by Dwayne Phillips I solve problems. Sometimes that is my job, but often it comes away from the job. I say “no” more often than in the past. There are several reasons with a major one being that only when some people experience the pain of a problem do they stop creating problems for themselves. […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Given any endeavor, their are circumstances beyond our control. These circumstances can keep us from achieving something. One thing that is always in our control is our own learning. We can all choose to learn. I work hard. I work smart. There are days when I believe that I can achieve what […]

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