Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips I observe that some people will transfer the power over their lives to people whom they disdain. I find this odd, but I find it often. Some people will give other people power over their lives. The conversation goes something like this: Person A: “That person is ruining my life!” Me: “How […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Project managers often use major changes to “get well.” They use the confusion of a major change to cover over lots of problems. Projects change. That appears to be a fact of life. Every now and then, a major change occurs. Examples include, Two large organizations merge A large organization splits into […]

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by Dwayne Phillips I learn how to raise someone else’s power by losing some of my own. I once received a call in my office from a gentleman named Brian. Brian worked for a company up the road half an hour away. There was something weighing heavy on Brian’s mind. He didn’t sound like himself […]

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by Dwayne Phillips An experience with high self-esteem, congruent communication, and buying a car. A few years ago, my wife and I bought a new van. Our old van was ten years old, and one of our sons was about to start college. We would need a third vehicle and decided to buy a new […]

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by Dwayne Phillips When you say or hear a negative statement, add “up until now” to erase the negative. These magic words come from author and consultant Jerry Weinberg. They are great erasers. Here are some examples: I am not a good writer…up until now I stutter when I speak in front of people…up until […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Taking from Seth Godin, what kills large organizations is that people don’t know what other people are doing. Managers at the top level are responsible for these problems. Seth Godin has a recent post on his blog that I love to hate or hate to love or something. He highlights a problem […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Once you refer to some person as “boss” and other persons as “employees,” all is lost. I saw this post a few days back about the boss’ greatest fear. They don’t want the employees to catch them on video. There might be something in the video that can harm them. Let’s back […]

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by Dwayne Phillips The number of people on a project influences the management practices that will succeed. An easy-to-remember heuristic is the breakpoints at 3 to the n power. Yes, that is mutters with a “u.” As the size of a team on a project increases, so does the muttering. This implies that what works […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Some people in my life have been very discouraging. Some people in my life have been very encouraging. It is not difficult for me to choose which type of person I want to be. I can remember it like it happened yesterday. I was a graduate student working on my PhD. My […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Of all the things I have done recently, the one that is garnering the most interest online is Pinterst. Go figure. I don’t understand this, but people are paying attention to my “pins” (I think that is the right term) on Pinterest. (I just realized that Pinterest is a combination of “pin” […]

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