Working Up

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

Working Up header image 4

Entries from October 2024

Notes on “Hungry Authors”

October 31st, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Thoughts on writing and publishing a non-fiction book. This book strongly recommends having a plan for the business and a plan for the book’s content. I recently finished “Hungry Authors” by Liz Morrow and Ariel Curry, Rowan and Littlefield, 2024. I like the book. It focuses on knowing why you are writing […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Communication · Concepts · Design · Notebook · Planning · Writing

AI Assistant (Nothing New Here)

October 28th, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Here come the AI assistants. They will do amazing things for us. Nothing new here. We’ve had these for decades. Nice, but not new. I’ve seen several AI assistants recently. They are usually called “agents.” Well, “agent” is shorter and easier to spell than “assistant,” so I guess that is an improvement. […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Artificial Intelligence · Ideas · Problems · Software · Solutions · Technology

I Will Do Less Than I Can

October 24th, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips The title is the hallmark of a person in a bureaucracy. Do less; just get by. I have worked in and around government agencies for four decades or more. Gosh, that’s a lot. The title of this little post summarizes the mean of the bell curve in these places. Let’s expand a […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Commitment · Conversation · Excuses · Government · Leadership · Learning · Systems

Adventures in Medicare and Other Systems Thinking Principles

October 21st, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips It is only healthcare and security in old age. Not very important, huh? In the recent past, I joined Medicare (yes, I am that old). Let’s see, just go to a government website, fill in the blanks, and viola’. Well, being a technically savvy person, I did that, or tried that. All […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Design · Error · General Systems Thinking · Government · Management · People · Systems

Answer the Big Questions, Please

October 17th, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips This is what the people who steer the money want from AI or anything else. We don’t want AI to do the dishes and the laundry. Well, most of us want these things, but the people who steer the money, i.e., the CEO folks, want answers to their big questions. Big questions […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Artificial Intelligence · Data Science · Decide · Questions · Requirements · Systems

Little Steps to Nonsense

October 14th, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Yes, we accept a few things that aren’t great, but that’s okay. When, however, is enough enough? Okay, we know this isn’t correct, but let’s let this little one slide in because it will make for peace in the big picture. You know, let someone see their idea implemented. They will feel […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Ideas · Management · Problems · Stupid · Thinking

When the Audience Knows More

October 10th, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes, the audience knows more than the designation teacher or expert. Great. There is much good that can come from this. Let’s discuss teaching adults or at least a situation where someone says you are the teacher and everyone else in the room is an adult. It is common for one of […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Adults · Authentic · Conversation · Honesty · Learning · Teaching

Water Flows Downhill

October 7th, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips The aftermath of Hurricane Helene in the mountains of the east coast reminds us of a basic. Hurricane Helene hit the Gulf Coast of Florida recently. It hit the coast hard. The worst damage and the most deaths, however, occurred in the mountains up the east coast of the US. This is […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Adapting · Economics · Management · People · Planning

I’m Writing, I Don’t Know if I’m Any Good at It

October 3rd, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Maybe one day I will know what “any good at it” means when applied to writing. I heard the title used as a line in a movie recently. Yet another young, earnest person was confessing to an acquaintance about how they spent their idle time. They wrote. They were trying to write […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Appearances · Concepts · Growth · Learning · Money · Success · Writing