by Dwayne Phillips In bad times, the storyteller will always have a job. Someone famous said this, I don’t remember who. Look at Hollywood in the great depression. Look at polarized, fussy America today. It began in 2016 during the (un)presidential campaign and continues. The Hallmark Channel makes predictable romantic movies. Their ratings are up […]
Entries Tagged as 'Communication'
In Praise of the Hallmark Channel: Promise for Communicators
December 19th, 2019 · No Comments
Tags: Alternatives · Communication · Hope
Let’s Not Tell Them…
December 12th, 2019 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips When we say, “Let’s not tell them (this yet)…” We have learned exactly what we should tell “them” first. There are the hushed tones. “In this meeting, we want to get across these things, but let’s all keep in mind that we don’t want to tell them about…” This is one variation […]
Tags: Breathe · Communication · Fear
Definition of the Software
November 28th, 2019 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips We need to have the definition. Otherwise, we don’t know what we are doing. In agile development, we value working software over documentation. Great. Now…still…we need a definition of the software. Something that says, push this button this happens. Push that button that happens. We, however, don’t have time to write that […]
Tags: Agility · Communication · Simple · Systems
Have You ever Taught?
September 19th, 2019 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Teacher? Not me. Of course me. Understanding what it means to teach reveals that almost all of us are teachers. teach: verb, show or explain to (someone) how to do something. Have you ever told someone something that they didn’t know before you told them? Congratulations. You are a teacher. It really […]
Tags: Communication · Education · Learning
Organics versus Mechanics
September 9th, 2019 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes it is as simple as one word instead of another that can change everything. Do we manage or cultivate? Do we transfer or transplant? Do we tell or till? We could go on. Is the workplace a machine or a garden? Are our colleagues living, breathing humans or interchangeable cogs? Persons […]
Tags: Communication · People · Word · Work
What did You Hear Me Say?
September 5th, 2019 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Ask for information. Use it to change me—not the other person. I teach classes on a few topics at work. The best thing I can do afterwards (a few days later) is ask one of the students questions: “What is this? What is that? How would you do this? What is the […]
Tags: Communication · Humility · Teaching
The Amazon Written Memo Meeting: Nothing New Here
September 2nd, 2019 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Jeff Bezos and Amazon have received much praise for their use of written essays at meetings instead of PowerPoint and bullet points. Great, but not new. This is a good piece about Amazon’s use of written memos at meetings. Keep the thinking focused. Don’t waste time. Think. Communicate. Excellent. Great. I love […]
Tags: Communication · Thinking · Tools · Writing
Something I would Like to See: Building a Neural Network
August 29th, 2019 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips It is just a “figure of speech,” but perhaps we would understand better if we used the correct words in the field of artificial intelligence. Here is yet another article about “building” a neural network. It is a good article that explain neural networks well. It shows some sample source code to […]
Tags: Communication · Neural Network · Science · Technology · Word
Words from a Different Time
August 22nd, 2019 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips We often use words that were used in a different time. If we understand that use, we can better understand what we are trying to do now, at this time. I overheard some ladies talking about arranging meals for groups of persons at charity fund raisers. “If someone is really hungry that […]
Tags: Communication · Word
The Introduction
July 29th, 2019 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips How I wish to be introduced says much about myself and what I wish for myself and those around me. How do you wish someone would introduce you at work or at a social setting (gosh, there is a variety of these)? Here is something I would like to hear in the […]
Tags: Communication · Conversation · Influence · Information