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Entries Tagged as 'Communication'

The Describe-a-Picture Method of Writing

December 4th, 2014 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips One method of writing that has worked for me is to sketch a picture or diagram and then describe it. I have used this method of writing for years. I needed the assistance of others to understand that this is what I was doing. Here is the method: sketch a picture or […]

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Tags: Communication · Writing

The Question and Answer Method of Writing

December 1st, 2014 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips One way to write is to first write a list of questions, set the questions some place you can see them, and answer all the questions. I continue to work with college students on their writing, and they continue to teach me. A recent assignment the students were working involved answering a […]

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Tags: Communication · Education · Writing

Hello World

November 13th, 2014 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Yet again, we have a less expensive way to broadcast live to the entire world. Recently, GoPro (makers of those neat little action cams) announced that if you wince just right and combine GoPro with LiveStream with a smartphone with the Internet with some imagination…you can show the world what your GoPro […]

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Tags: Communication · Culture · Technology

Hyperventilation, Hysteria, and Commitment

November 3rd, 2014 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Hyperventilation and hysteria are shows of emotion, not commitment. A recent post from Seth Godin reminded me of the above. I have been the victim of the “why aren’t you going berserk?” syndrome over the years. I was once reprimanded for concentrating on performing the work instead of yelling and screaming at […]

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Tags: Choose · Communication · Differences · General Systems Thinking · Reaction

Finish the “We Can’t” Statement

October 6th, 2014 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips We often state that we can’t do something. We rarely finish that statement with a reason. The reason usually leads to a solution. Several years ago I was working on a project where we were building a small gadget. The user was to take the gadget outdoors (backyard) and attach it to […]

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Tags: Communication · Design · Problems

The Round Table of Librarians

September 22nd, 2014 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Librarians have always been able to point us to the right place to find the information we needed. Today, however, with all the knowledge of mankind on the Internet, one person can’t find everything. Librarians don’t know much, but they do know where to look. Someone told me something like that a […]

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Tags: Adapting · Communication · Knowledge · Library

The Washington D.C. NFL Team

September 1st, 2014 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips The locals are resisting the cries for a nickname change. Is anyone surprised with the resistance? Consider the situation: You are born in a place. You grow up there. You cheer for the home team. Nothing surprising in how the first two items lead to the third. One day, some outsiders shout: […]

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Tags: Adapting · Change · Communication

Resistance as a Resource

August 18th, 2014 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips When people resist me, they are telling me something. Am I listening? Dale Emery is an acquaintance of mine. I owe the topic of this blog post to him. See here and here. When people resist me, they are telling me something. That something is valuable information. I can ignore the information […]

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Tags: Communication

Cloud Computing Thoughts

July 28th, 2014 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips After several recent experiences, I know a little about cloud computing. I have been experimenting in several ways recently with cloud computing. The basic sales pitch from a cloud computing provider is: We’ll buy and maintain the computers. You rent them from us. This takes us forward to the past to a […]

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Tags: Broadband · Communication · Computing · Technology

Nouns, Verbs, and Hashtags

May 22nd, 2014 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips The more things change, well, you know, they don’t change. The world is now ruled by hashtags. There are no more standard categories for anything. Everyone makes their own category when they want. This was all described several years ago in Everything is Miscellaneous by David Weinberger. Since nothing has a category, […]

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Tags: Communication · Web 2.0 · Writing