Working Up

Working Up in Project Management, Systems Engineering, Technology, and Writing

Working Up header image 4

Entries Tagged as 'Differences'

The Difference that Makes a Difference

November 16th, 2015 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips This is the key to information—what separates just more data from something that enables a good choice. Of course we all want to find this. This is the stuff of basic science that most of us understand. Let’s walk through a silly example: I am gaining weight. Why? I eat 12 hot […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Change · Diet · Differences

That is for Someone Else

February 18th, 2015 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Let’s be practical, but let’s still try to attain what we wish. When told that something is “for someone else,” question to motives of the person telling you that. I first encountered this practice when I was in high school. I attended a small, rural high school in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana (Loranger […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Change · Choose · Differences

Hyperventilation, Hysteria, and Commitment

November 3rd, 2014 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Hyperventilation and hysteria are shows of emotion, not commitment. A recent post from Seth Godin reminded me of the above. I have been the victim of the “why aren’t you going berserk?” syndrome over the years. I was once reprimanded for concentrating on performing the work instead of yelling and screaming at […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Choose · Communication · Differences · General Systems Thinking · Reaction

Be the Best – A Misguided Goal

February 20th, 2014 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips “Be the Best” is a misguided goal because it is based on other people. A few years ago, I worked for a government agency who proclaimed loudly and often that it was the Best fill-in-the-blank agency in the Federal government. I tried in vain to convince people that was a misguided goal. […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Choose · Differences · General Systems Thinking · Success

Preventing “They”

April 15th, 2013 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips “They are against us” can be prevented. They want to take away our right to… They are coming to get us. They are going to tax us. They are going to do all sorts of harm to us. Whatever the issue, whatever the time, whatever the place, we tend to find ourselves […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Change · Communication · Differences

A Genius of America

September 10th, 2012 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips America breeds misfits. These people sit in the back of the classroom and laugh. Then they grow up and invent things that no one else imagined. Part of the genius of America is that we breed misfits. These persons sit in the back of the classroom. Some of them laugh all day […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Adapting · Differences · Fun

Some Thoughts from Germany

June 11th, 2012 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips My wife and I are visiting our son in Germany. Being a good, bad Ugly American, I have thoughts that capture the entire country ( 😉 My youngest son has been teaching English in Ludwigshafen, Germany this school year. Since the year is almost over, my wife and I are visiting him. […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Differences · Family · Vacation

Hardware, Software, and Design

August 4th, 2011 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips One of the differences between hardware and software is that hardware requires some design before building begins. Software, however, can begin at any moment without design. I was a bit surprised the other day at work, but people were debating the differences between building hardware and “building” software. (I guess that is […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Design · Differences

Identity Rules

June 6th, 2011 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips An identity rule is something that I must have or must do or must be to maintain my identity.  If you violate an identity rules, you lose your identity. People have rules, I know I have my own rules. Have you ever tied the shoe laces of another adult? That would be […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Culture · Differences · Expectations · General Systems Thinking · People

Learning How to be Smarter

March 17th, 2011 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips. I have multiplied my “smartness” in the last couple of decades due to techniques I learned from two peolple. I always wanted to be smart. Then I wanted to be smarter than that. I guess I am still working at being smarter. I recently switched to paying for Starbucks coffee using an […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Differences · General Systems Thinking · Learning · People · Thinking