Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips When you call me that, smile from “The Virginian: a horseman of the plains” by Owen Wister The statement above is one of the most misquoted from American literature, movie folklore, and culture. The misquote is: smile when you say that The implication is simple, if you are smiling, you can say […]

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by Dwayne Phillips I have learned that I am not capable of being prepared for everything. Hence, I have learned to be prepared for being unprepared. I often speak in front of people, lead discussions, teach classes, and generally attend meetings where people ask me questions. I am often unprepared for what people ask. I […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Contrary to the Lake Wobegon Effect, the average fill-in-the-blank-noun-for-a-person is average. Something I recently realized: The average fill-in-the-blank-noun-for-a-person is average. Here are some examples: The average doctor is average The average teacher is average The average writer is average The average engineer is average and so on. This all contradicts the Lake […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Technology can be great. It is, however, made by people who are known to make mistakes. Don’t believe everything the sales people tell you about technology. I make my living from technology. I have done so for 30 years and going. So now I am going to write something that may seem […]

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by Dwayne Phillips In my industry job, I see people making phone calls to obtain answers to questions right now. I never say that in 28 years of government. Here are some thoughts on the practice. I worked in government for 28 years. I have since worked in private industry for two years. A current […]

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by Dwayne Phillips The vast majority of people need some type of information. There is, however, a limit to  information that leads to effectiveness. Adding more information after this limit only leads to lesser effectiveness. Here are a few posts on the MOI model from author and consultant Jerry Weinberg. The MOI model comprises three […]

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by Dwayne Phillips The vast majority of people need some type of organization. There is, however, a limit to  organization that leads to effectiveness. Adding more organization after this limit only leads to lesser effectiveness. Here are a few posts on the MOI model from author and consultant Jerry Weinberg. The MOI model comprises three […]

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by Dwayne Phillips The vast majority of people need some type of motivation. There is, however, a limit to  motivation that leads to effectiveness. Adding more motivation after this limit only leads to lesser effectiveness. Here are a few posts on the MOI model from author and consultant Jerry Weinberg. The MOI model comprises three […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Some various thoughts on Apple, writing, the TSA, the Talent Economy, and National Novel Writing Month. sundry: (adjective) assorted: consisting of a haphazard assortment of different kinds. wordnetweb.princeton.edu My mind is racing with a number of different things. I couldn’t decide what to write in the regular Thursday blog posting. Then one […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Time and again I have seen people make a terrible mess, work hard to fix their mess, and be proclaimed a hero. I still don’t understand why anyone would reward such a person. In the mid-1980s I started managing projects. I looked about to see what my peers – other project managers […]

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