Working Up

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

Working Up header image 4

Entries Tagged as 'Clarity'

The Shortest True Sentence

August 6th, 2026 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips I find, or re-find, a basic concept of writing non-fiction. I recently worked through a piece of rewriting and revision. I used several AI systems combined with the best writing advice I accumulated through the years. When it was over, I attempted a summary. Surely there was something to pin on the […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Brevity · Clarity · Communication · Learning · Simple · Word · Writing

The Paramedic Method of Editing

July 2nd, 2026 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips I find an old method of editing that I was using without knowing it. I recently discovered the paramedic method of editing from UCLA professor Richard Lanham. I think I have been using this method for years without knowing it had a formal beginning and technique. I referred to what I was […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Brevity · Clarity · Communication · Writing

Malady as a Resource

June 25th, 2026 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips A malady is a setback. A malady teaches a person something unique. That allows the person to do things others cannot. Permit me to dote on my granddaughter a bit. I am subjective here, but that is my privilege. She has congenital cataracts, i.e., she was born with cataracts. She sees well-enough […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Adapting · Choose · Clarity · Competence · Education · Expectations · Expertise · Family · Resources

Making Verbs out of Nouns

May 14th, 2026 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Let’s turn these nouns into verbs. Let’s not. We are going to modernize the application to optimize it and maximize our efforts. — Wrote someone who shouldn’t have been writing In other words, we want maximum free time. Let’s make the application modern and optimal. Turning a noun into a verb (I […]

[Read more →]

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

With Great Certainty

December 22nd, 2025 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips I often hear people speak with great certainty. Further consideration, however, reveals almost no certainty. People like to speak with great certainty. I write those words because I often hear people speak with great certainty. If people don’t like to do that, why do they do it almost all the time? Great […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Clarity · Communication · Honesty · Leadership · Problems · Talk

Their Point of View

November 3rd, 2025 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips An old book refreshes how to write to someone else. I recently found an old book—old meaning 40 years old. “How to use the power of the printed word” was published in 1985. It comprises a dozen essays from famous folks of that day about writing and reading and such. I am […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Clarity · Communication · Other · People · Writing

A Little-Better Prompt

October 20th, 2025 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Here is an attempt to gain value from a chattering bot by wording the prompt a little differently. These chattering bots are everywhere. Some value is gained while some skill is lost. I thought of a better prompt: Find, display the URL, and display a few sentences from three key commentaries regarding […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Alternatives · Artificial Intelligence · Clarity · Communication · Tools · Writing

Reading the Fine Print

August 18th, 2025 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips We have to read the fine print to understand our agreements. Why, however, is there fine print? I was reading through a contract document recently. I missed several things, just a couple of words buried in a 100-page document. I guess we call those things “the fine print.” Gotta’ read the fine […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Agreement · Clarity · Concepts · Reading · Respect · Writing

Eye Contact or “Hey, I’m Over Here”

August 14th, 2025 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Another fundamental in speak to people seems to have been lost. I recently had the misfortune of sitting in a conference room for a period of time that was greater than three hours and somewhat less than an infinity of pain. I, and another couple dozen colleagues, was facing a giant screen […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Authentic · Clarity · Communication · Culture · Respect

We Don’t Want Search; We Want Find

May 22nd, 2025 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Information has always been searchable. What I really want is information that is findable. Search is a topic that has plagued and payed computer scientists since anyone was first called a computer scientist. I studied search back when I was in college (we used punch card machines back then and wrote on […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Clarity · Computing · Questions · Research · Search · Technology