Working Up

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

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Entries from December 2024

Feel Fill-In-The-Blank for Ten Minutes

December 30th, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips We have emotions. That is fine. Feel fill-in-the-blank fully and deeply for ten minutes. Get over it and move on. About ten years ago I was writing proposals for a company. The day before I had finished a couple of pages for a proposal. New orders came down. “We decided to change […]

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Tags: Change · Chaos · Life · Problems · Respect · Time · Work

Punctuality and Interviews

December 26th, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips There are many ways to show respect. One is simply to be one time for interviews and other meetings. I hope to be employed by an employers by the time this post is posted. I have interviewed with many people these last six months. Some folks are courteous and respectful. Some, well, […]

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Tags: Accountability · Jobs · Meetings · Respect · Time

Merry Christmas 2024

December 23rd, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips It is Christmas again. Let’s make the most of it. This is to be posted two days before Christmas. I write it a month earlier than that. I have looked back at a few Christmas blog posts and repeat some of the words from some of the prior ones. Funny how they […]

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Tags: Christmas

Looking for Good Ideas (In the Wrong Places)

December 19th, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes the good ideas are lurking in the wrong places. Looking for good ideas? Look at bad sources. Read a crummy book. In it I will find, “Now that sentence there is a good idea for a book or something. Why didn’t this person write the book about that instead of the […]

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Tags: Ideas · Learning · Mistakes · Process · Resources · Stories · Stupid · Thinking · Visibility

Due to COVID…(or something else)

December 16th, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips This week’s world-wide excuse for not doing your job continues. Due to an excuse, I will no longer be doing all of my job. I will continue to receive all of my salary (good for me), but don’t expect all of my efforts. It is pretty nice receiving all of my salary […]

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Tags: Emergency · Excuses · Expectations · Humility · Integrity · Remote Work · Work

Story Quilters

December 12th, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips An age-old method of writing long pieces comes from writing short pieces without a plan or outline. The “outline” comes later. I recently stumbled across a description of writers as Story Quilters. This is not a method of planning or outlining a large piece before writing anything. This is not a method […]

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Tags: Alternatives · Communication · Experiment · Ideas · Improvement · Stories · Writing

Experiences With NoteboookLLM

December 9th, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips I have been experimenting with Google’s NotebookLLM. I like is using it to remind me of what I have written in fifteen years of this blog. I have been experimenting with Google’s NotebookLLM. I’m still not sure what NotebookLLM is or what it is intended to do. I guess there is value […]

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Tags: Artificial Intelligence · Blog · Google · Learning · Machine Learning · Questions · Writing

Useful and Recommendable

December 5th, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Non-fiction books should be useful and recommendable. It is easy to lose sight of these qualities. A book by Rob Fitzpatrick is full of these qualities. I recently finished reading a book of simple fundamentals for writing non-fiction. “Write Useful Books. A modern approach to designing and refining recommendable nonfiction,” Rob Fitzpatrick, […]

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Tags: Authentic · Communication · Consulting · Notebook · User · Writing

Half of What You See, None of What You Hear

December 2nd, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips This is an old saying told to me many, many years ago. It is true today more than ever. Recent “reports” tell me that some Federal agencies are arresting folks who are merely trying to help their neighbors. And I hear of nice folks pointing guns at other Americans who are temporary […]

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Tags: Choose · Clarity · Expectations · General Systems Thinking · Information · Learning · Listening