by Dwayne Phillips We often have the experts looking up at someone atop the pyramid who simply doesn’t know much of what they are saying. There is supposed to be an expertise pyramid. The lone person atop the pyramid has more expertise than all those below. That is how the person reached the top of […]
Entries Tagged as 'Culture'
The Upside Down Expertise Pyramid
July 18th, 2024 · No Comments
Tags: Baseline · Culture · Expertise · General Systems Thinking · Government · Systems
Philosophy and Reality
March 14th, 2024 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Philosophy and utopia are great until reality punches everything in the nose—philosophically speaking of course. Philosophical discussions are great. They may stretch the mind to see other points of view or possibilities. They may lead to better ways. Philosophy, however, is philosophy and not reality. We need to keep that in mind. […]
Tags: Culture · Experiment · Fable · Greed · History · Ideas · Reality · Technical Debt
I Want People to Miss Me
January 22nd, 2024 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Much of what we pass off as complicated issues comes from something simple, the desire to be missed. I like to listen to the podcast of former Washington Post writer Tony Kornheiser. I laugh a lot while listening. Mr. Kornheiser is a big movie fan and follows the culture as he was […]
Tags: Change · Coffee · Culture · People · Thank you · Wishes
Mean What We Say and Say What We Mean
December 21st, 2023 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Let us mean what we say and say what we mean. Sometimes that requires too much effort. The effort is worth it if we want others to take us seriously. You know what I mean, huh? You get my drift, right? Just go along with me on this one. And then one […]
Tags: Brevity · Clarity · Communication · Competence · Culture · Thinking
The Parking Lot Concierge
September 21st, 2023 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips This is something we need. Shopping centers, please read. I’ve seen it many times. An adult steps out of their car in the shopping center parking lot. They have two or more small children with them. All the children are strapped into car seats. Let’s see, unbuckle the oldest child first, or […]
Tags: Adults · Culture · Expectations · Observation · Rest · Security
No, You Don’t ”Know”
July 6th, 2023 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Sorry, we (you and me) don’t “know” as often as we like to think. When I ask a person a question and their eyes look up, that means… Hah! Silly notion. I know what this means. I know what that means. I know what the other person is doing and thinking and […]
Tags: Communication · Culture · Knowledge · Learning · People
Want AI to Succeed?
April 20th, 2023 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips I think OpenAI did this before I get around to writing this blog post, but if you want AI to succeed, stop calling it AI. There is a large part of society that doesn’t like “AI.” First, how do you pronounce “AI?” Is it “A” then “I” or it some word that […]
Tags: Artificial Intelligence · Computing · Culture · Data Science · Vocabulary
Culture and Size
March 30th, 2023 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips A simple equation provides some insight into how culture must change with the number of people in the group. Years ago, the late author and consultant Jerry Weinberg told me of a little equation he used to note the shifts in culture in groups of people. The equation is 3N. If that […]
Tags: Adults · Culture · Meetings · Work
Words and Distant Lands
February 27th, 2023 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips People in distant lands use the same words differently. Time and generations create distant lands. I was fascinated by this story about younger folks putting things on TikTok et al. Then older folks who admit people to college and hire them for jobs noticed those things. The younger folks spoke in the […]
Tags: Communication · Conversation · Culture · Humility · Language · Time
The Standard Configuration
May 23rd, 2022 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Start at the beginning and build from there. That sure is boring. That is the standard configuration. If, however, resources are scarce and the desire to accomplish new work is high, it is a good place to start. I recently restarted a new job. That is a long story for another day. […]
Tags: Adapting · Baseline · Culture · Learning · Management · Process · Systems · Work