Working Up

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

Working Up header image 4

Entries from April 2020

Software “Pipelines”: Another Bad Idea

April 30th, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips I don’t like the metaphor of the software “pipeline,” never have. Here is one explanation why. I recently wrote of my distaste for the metaphor of the software stack. Now I express a similar distaste for the software pipeline. Perhaps this goes back to the Unix pipe—shown with the “|” vertical bar. […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Communication · Software · Vocabulary

Trades: We All Do Them

April 27th, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Whatever method you use to accomplish your work, you are choosing it over something else. You gain something with your choice; you lose something with your choice. That is your trade. “We do DevSecOps,” said one practitioner. “We do agile,” said another. “We do what we feel like doing everyday,” said a […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Alternatives · Choose · General Systems Thinking · Thinking

Let’s Take a Walk Around the White Boards

April 23rd, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips This is a basic thing to do when working as a group to create and refine ideas. This procedure works with just about any task where a group of persons is working together to create and refine ideas. One example is gathering requirements and creating preliminary designs. Another is outlining or formulating […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Alternatives · Communication · Group · Ideas · Uncategorized

Virtual and Social Illiteracy

April 20th, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips The current situation brings with it the usual proclamations by those who, despite public appearances, appear to be illiterate. We need not join them. The current crisis brings with it, as most do, a new set of slang and expressions. Many of these are issued by public officials who, by all appearances, […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Communication · Language

Work and Convenience

April 16th, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes we don’t do some things at work merely because they are inconvenient. “I don’t want to do such-and-such,” said busy, hardworking person at work. “It is inconvenient to me,” thought the same person but didn’t say it aloud. Work can be fun and rewarding or as some have said, “Pleasant, productive, […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Accountability · Work

Looking for Something to Write? A Starter?

April 13th, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Inspiration for something to writer or a “starter” is everywhere. Here is a simple method of finding it. Looking for something to write? Looking for a starter for the next piece to write? Go to any book shelf. Grab any book. Open to any page. Point to any line. Copy that line. […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Ideas · Writing

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

Sipping from a Fire Hose (or We are too Lazy to do Our Jobs)

April 6th, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips The new boss arrives. Everyone tells her what they are doing all at once in great detail. The new boss is “sipping from the fire hose.” I heard this “sipping from the fire hose” phrase a thousand times in my career. The new boss arrives. She is inundated with details during the […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Accountability · Clarity · Work

Hopes, Dreams, Wishes, and Plans

April 2nd, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Plans are significant things. We produce them with significant effort. Otherwise, we are merely chatting about our hopes, dreams, and wishes. Person A: We have a plan for that. Person B: Great. May I see it? Person A: What do you mean? Person B: Your plan. May I see it? May I […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Communication · Conversation · Planning