Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips We seem to create silly rules about silence. This is another one of those, “What happens here stays here.” We create silly rules about silence. I wrote about one earlier in this blog, “Silence is agreement.” Nonsense. Another that just came to mind is, “What is said here stays here.” That permits […]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips We don’t want to be slow. Stop all slow processes; be quick. There are, however, slowing processes—things that cause pause for thinking. And thinking is almost always a good thing. “This is slow. This is too slow. Let’s stop doing this,” said a frustrated person who has a good idea (or in […]

[Read more →]

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 […]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips Most systems “work” as we intend when enough people want them to. Those people cooperate with the system and one another. Democracy works because people want it to. There is much freedom in democratic systems. That freedom works because people want it to. People realize the value of the freedom and don’t […]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips If you want something in return for something, state that contract first. Person A: Guess what? blah blah blah. Person B: Oh my goodness. Person A: You can’t tell anyone what I just told you. Person B: Why not? Person A: Because. Person B: You should have stated the non-disclosure agreement before […]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips Another variation of Lewis Carroll’s “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” This time we apply it to hiring data scientists. “We can’t hire enough data scientists.” At least I read that almost everyday out there on the Internet. Well, why can’t we? Here are […]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips Everyone claims agreement. Great. Let’s just test that statement with a blank sheet of paper. “We all agree on what we are to do!” claimed a person full of hope and anxious to get to work. “Wow, great,” said a second person who likes to hear good news, but is skeptical when […]

[Read more →]