Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips There are tools that help me remember the things I need to remember. They prevent a fall into the Dark Ages. Define Dark Ages: it isn’t that we forget how to do something, it is that we forget than we once could do that. Personal Dark Ages: it isn’t that I can’t […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Data entry, one of the lower-paid professions, is prone to errors, and some can be fatal. During the aftermath of the recent Hurricane Ida, a person close to me needed an essential service. By “essential” I mean if the service did not arrive, someone would die. I repeatedly called the service provider. […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Half the persons in any profession are below average. At what point is a person not allowed in the profession? Where is the floor? Half of all teachers are below average. Half of all interior painters are below average. Fill in the blank for whatever job there is. Okay, we know that. […]

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by Dwayne Phillips I guess we haven’t changed much from the day of the snake oil salesman rolling through town with his mule-drawn wagon. There is something about transience and lack of integrity that tend to make the two close partners. If we have transience, we lack integrity. Back in the old days, or at […]

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by Dwayne Phillips We “just” … Nothing is easy. We might as well describe the situation as it is. Everything is easy if someone else is supposed to do it. When I have to do it, not so easy. Yet, we describe things as easy. We’ll just do this and that and be done with […]

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by Dwayne Phillips People differ in work styles. Failing to admit such is failure. Let’s discuss our difference and work. We turn in products on schedule, sometimes literally at the last hour. Well, what’s the problem? The products are on time. And many are fine with that. If you finish ahead of time, you show […]

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by Dwayne Phillips People can learn. A little basic vocabulary plus the desire to work hard means they are qualified to move into something new. Years ago, a young woman told me about how she wanted to move into a Spanish linguist job. She had an English-Spanish dictionary and some books written in Spanish. She […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Experts are far more productive than the average. But if we eliminate the average, how will anyone become an expert? Expert managers can manage 10 times the work of the average manager. Expert fill-in-the-blank can do 10 times the work of the average fill-in-the-blank. But how will the expert become an expert […]

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by Dwayne Phillips How can we communicate better? First, let’s try to communicate better. How can I communicate better? How can I say this better? Look for a better word Look for a better word or two Look for a better phrase Look for a better arrangement of thoughts Look for a better sentence Look […]

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by Dwayne Phillips It isn’t easy to admit that I lack knowledge for something that “I should know.” Most people are like me in this respect. How can I “help” without looking over their shoulder? “Maybe if you did it that way instead of this way,” said the eager, wanting-to-be-helpful person standing behind me and […]

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