Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips I try to write a few six-word stories and learn a few things. I have heard about six-word stories and stories written with only a few words. Okay, enough thinking and waiting; here are a few attempts. The window broke; I jumped out. I woke, he died, me too. The grandchildren visited. […]

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by Dwayne Phillips I look at a $3 program that enables making video explanations using the iPad. Two days in a row, I bump into a presentation program. This time it is called Explain Everything. It costs $2.99 and runs on the iPad. In the program, you create a few “slides” which become the background […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Following the suggestion of several friends, I take a look at Prezi – a new(er) presentation-making application. Several friends hit me recently with, “prezi prezi prezi.” First, I didn’t understand what they were saying. Second, I didn’t know how to spell what they were saying. I can’t mimick their pronunciation in my […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Children use excuses. Adults speak candidly. Children love to use convenient excuses. Adults state what is actually happening. Some people call that being “blunt” or “candid.” I tend to like “candid.” Convenient excuses allow us to “be nice” and talk around situations instead of facing them. Candor, however, exposes the real issue […]

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by Dwayne Phillips In the hall, in the dark corners that cannot be seen by humans, lurks a monster. We, or us, know the monster. It goes by the name “they” or “them.” I suppose this post goes under the category of “something that happens almost daily when ‘we’ talk about our problems.” Someone is […]

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by Dwayne Phillips The definition of work is changing with more people forming distant, loosely connected teams. This requires people who can understand not only the words but the intent of a writer and a speaker. Here is a new definition of work: Work is something we do, not somewhere we go. For years, the […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Profanity is not an indication of passion. There are many other explanations for it. In a recent meeting, a colleagues let loose a stream of profanity. A moment later he said, “Please excuse my passion.” Sigh. Here we go. Profanity is not an expression of passion. I know plenty of passionate people […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Try as we might, we often jump to a conclusion while bypassing the rather boring gathering of facts. Results are predictable and predicted. “Jump to conclusions” is an old cliche. Let’s try to put a little more thought into this topic. Consider the Satir Interaction Model from the late family therapist Virginia […]

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by Dwayne Phillips I was once told that “silence is agreement” and that “everyone who has a brain knows that.” I disagree. Silence is silence. If you want to know what is behind silence, ask. It was 20 years ago. I had sat through some meeting on some forgotten topic where I rolled my eyes […]

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by Dwayne Phillips “You get what you inspect, not what you expect” (source forgotten, lesson relearned painfully too often) Relearning can be painful. At least “learning” is in there somewhere, and I believe that learning is a fruitful use of time. Here’s a recent conversation: Manager: I can’t believe how bad the quality of work […]

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