by Dwayne Phillips One of the fundamentals in the engineering of systems and architecture is a “D” word that many loathe in our 21st century. “Let’s hold off on this until we have to decide,” said a hopeful inhabitant of a post-modern universe. Yes, there are things that we don’t have to decide until we […]
Entries from December 2022
Deciding
December 29th, 2022 · No Comments
Tags: Choose · Decide · Engineering · General Systems Thinking · Systems
What Question are We Answering?
December 26th, 2022 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Find the right question. The answer will direct efforts. That is pretty basic, but it seems to work. The purpose of this blog post is… Well, let me struggle with the rest of that sentence. In my struggles, let me find the right question. How about, “Why would anyone read this?” or […]
Tags: Analysis · Design · Engineering · Questions · Requirements
Little Hand Prints on the Glass Door
December 22nd, 2022 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Let’s step aside from the usual thoughtful post and muse a bit a few days before Christmas. Sitting in Starbucks as I write these posts, I sometimes see small children pushing open the glass door as they exit. They are as excited when they exit as when they entered. Starbucks has a […]
Tags: Adults · Childhood · Starbucks
The Editor
December 19th, 2022 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips This post is about the person who edits. Most organizations no longer employ an Editor, and that practice is fraught with imminent peril. Consider The Editor: An Editor is a professional who is the voice of a company, ensuring that all written materials are accurate and of high quality. They work with […]
Tags: Communication · Competence · Education · Ethics · Writing
Verification and Validation
December 15th, 2022 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips This is yet another fundamental to providing systems that delight users. Have we validated that we verified before vacation? Or is it the other way around? There was a time when verification and validation were so commonly used that we called it “V&V.” Then we wanted independent persons to perform V&V so […]
Tags: Customer · General Systems Thinking · Requirements · Systems · Testing · User
The CONOPS
December 12th, 2022 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips This is a reminder of one of the fundamental documents or documentations in creating systems that delight users. It is the Concept of Operations. First things first. We want to provide a system that delights users. Where do we start? Let’s talk with the users; watch the users; learn from the users, […]
Tags: Communication · Concepts · Conversation · Engineering · General Systems Thinking · Listening · Systems
Reading a Product Catalog Does NOT an Engineer Make
December 8th, 2022 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips The ability to read a product catalog does not make a person an engineer or an architect or someone who can think and reason. I have encountered this for 30 years. It is as if someone had a cue card in their hand. They spew product names. Things like: Kafka HDFS TensorFlow […]
Tags: Clarity · Concepts · Design · Engineering · Ideas · Systems
The View from Across the Way
December 5th, 2022 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes it is better to see the Eiffel Tower from across town instead on being on the Eiffel Tower and seeing the slums. I’ve seen many photographs of the great pyramids in Egypt. I have only seen a few photographs of the city next to the great pyramids. Yikes. I prefer the […]
Tags: Appearances · Reframe · Review · Systems · Visibility
We Don’t Need to Do That (yes, we do)
December 1st, 2022 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips We aren’t as smart as we assume. Sometimes we need to do the simple things first before we move forward. “Can we introduce ourselves before we start?” I asked at a meeting. “No, we know each other here,” said the person presiding. We introduced ourselves first. The person presiding was thrilled to […]