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

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Entries from December 2021

I could Talk for Hours about This

December 30th, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips The ability to immediately talk at length about a topic often shows a lack of forethought. “I could talk for hours about this.” I have heard that many times. I have said it a few times. What I later learned after saying it myself was that I had failed to think about […]

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Tags: Brevity · Clarity · Communication · Thinking

Maybe It was a Bad Idea (that survived accidentally)

December 27th, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Just because something survived and thrived doesn’t mean it was a good idea. There are other explanations. Good ideas bubble to the top. Market success shows those good ideas. Bad ideas fizzle. They don’t make it anywhere. Well, maybe these statements are true, but maybe the aren’t. I see things that have […]

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Tags: Design · Expectations · General Systems Thinking · Ideas · Reframe · Success · Systems · Technical Debt · Time

The CRUD Systems

December 23rd, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Once stripped of all the extras, the great majority of computers systems we use are CRUD. And that is okay. We invented computers to compute, i.e., to calculate things. 1+2=3 and so on. We also learned that computers are good at storing information. We put information in the computer, it is there. […]

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Tags: Change · Cloud Computing · Computing · Writing

Okay, Write Those Words

December 20th, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips For some reason, we often run away from the words that we want most to convey. I work with persons who are trying to write. They show me their draft, we talk, we walk through the words, and I ask questions. The questions usually lead to grimaces and twisted expressions, struggled breathing, […]

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Tags: Adults · Brevity · Clarity · Communication · Word · Writing

The Win-Win Situation (and the loser)

December 16th, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Win-win situations mean that both parties win. Great! There are, however, losers as well. We love win-win situations. Both parties in the situation leave better than they were before. Who wouldn’t like that? The loser wouldn’t. But both parties are better. What loser? Of course there is a “loser.” Of course there […]

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Tags: Accountability · Agreement · Commitment

An Accepted Approximation

December 13th, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips In order to move on with other matter, from time to time we accept approximations and use them. That is fine as long as we acknowledge such. Water boils at 212° F. Well, sort of. There have been many experiments performed on various things we call “water.” When is “water” really “water” […]

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Tags: Approximation · General Systems Thinking · Systems · Thinking

The Systems Engineering Test

December 9th, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Should we be using systems engineering on this project? Here is a simple test. I think systems engineering is useful and brings many benefits. That is why I wrote a short book on the topic. The book is free here. Should we be using systems engineering on this project? Here is The […]

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Tags: Decide · General Systems Thinking · Judgment · Systems · Testing

Where are We Going? (Linear Regression)

December 6th, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Linear Regression is an old, basic technique to predict the future given the past. It seems that its utility has been forgotten by many. How did we get here? Why didn’t anyone see this coming? These are a couple questions I heard recently when groups of persons gathered to discuss … well, […]

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Tags: Accountability · Analysis · Change · Data Science · Economics · Estimation · Hope · Planning

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