Working Up

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

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Entries from August 2020

Name Dropping and Other Follies of (Mis)Communicating

August 31st, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Please talk concepts, name product names. There used to be comedy routines back in the 1970s (yes, I am that old) that made fun of daytime soap operas. (For you younger folks, don’t worry, you didn’t miss anything as almost everything on television these days is a soap opera.) Anyways, the comedians […]

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Tags: Communication · Concepts

The History of Software Development, the Waterfall Revisited

August 27th, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips An old person, who was around in the 1970s, looks back at the Waterfall process of software development. The waterfall process. Of course the pure waterfall doesn’t work, that is why competent persons never used it. Go way back when and realize that graphics programs (Paint, Draw, Misio) weren’t available. It was […]

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Tags: Alternatives · Communication · Management · Software

Beware of the Unbalanced Relationship

August 24th, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Take great caution when you enter an endeavor with someone who has far more experience than you. There are occasions in life when we enter a financial agreement in a terribly unbalanced relationship. One example: a parent dies. I am arranging the funeral, i.e., I am paying for it. I go to […]

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Tags: Context · Knowledge

The Easier Way

August 20th, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips When in doubt, take the easier way. That seems to be the norm. We bumped into some odd situations this week at work. Four months ago, something was supposed to happen. Something major was supposed to happen. Nothing happened. Actually, nothing appeared to happen. Major things did happen. Several persons acted decisively. […]

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Tags: Decide · Work

A Good Story

August 16th, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Most of us profess to like a good story, but do we? Stories are important. They inform others of our path to where we are today. We love stories. Or do we love the word “story?” If we love stories, we would tell them often. We would type the words to the […]

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Tags: Communication · Ideas · Stories · Writing

This Project vs. the BIG IDEA

August 13th, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips What interests me today? The project that I am working today? Perhaps not. I know I am working on this project today, but it is just another project. Sure, I want it to succeed, but really, it’s just another one. What really interests me is finding the BIG IDEA. That thing that […]

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Tags: Ideas · Management · Work

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

Ethical Consulting

August 6th, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Giving advice? Do we do what we advise? Quick point: an ethical person will only consult, advise, recommend, etc. only things that they do themselves. There are limits. If I advise a company to buy a million-dollar computer system, that is ethical even though I don’t have a million-dollar computer system myself […]

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Tags: Consulting · Ethics · Practice

Still Learning…Grammar

August 3rd, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Leaving room for learning is a good practice, as long as I continue to fill those empty rooms. I write a lot. I write much more than the average person—whom I have yet to meet. I know English grammar better than the average person. Most average persons could care less about that. […]

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Tags: Learning · Writing