Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips It is simple math: the more words presented the more errors present. Rats. There is a big benefit to brevity: fewer errors. One way to consider errors is to look at the number of errors per the number of words. Something like five errors per one-hundred words. That is 95% correct and […]

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by Dwayne Phillips An apology is just that—an apology. It is neither an explanation nor a justification. Rats! An apology is simple: I did this wrong. I am sorry for that. I ask your forgiveness. An apology does not contain an explanation: I was trying to do such-and-such and … An apology does not contain […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Measuring small things is much more difficult than measuring large things. We do it anyways and report the results with great confidence. Woe is us. It is more difficult to measure small things that it is to measure large things. Consider measuring the diameter of a sphere. We can use a device […]

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by Dwayne Phillips We often say things simply because we have heard others say those things. We are an odd lot. People say that because… they heard other people say that. And the other people said it with great confidence and bravado. Hence, it must be true, right? “Half of marriages end in divorce.” That […]

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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 When teaching and demonstrating systems, it is better if there are errors. Teaching how to use a system is better when there are errors. No, that prior sentence is not a typo. I want errors to appear when I am showing a person how to use a system—anything from software to a […]

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by Dwayne Phillips If something is really bad, it is probably broken, not just really bad. Remedies are available. I once knew a person at work who hated vegetables. He knew, however, that he should eat some now and then because, as everyone will tell you, vegetables “are good for you.” So, one day he […]

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by Dwayne Phillips The most difficult thing about the agile and similar approaches is the zero-th step. “I’m aren’t sure about this.” Let’s take small steps and learn as we go. Let’s not reach too far and make too costly a mistake.This is the agile manifesto stated another way. There is nothing new here; we […]

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by Dwayne Phillips It is such a good favor when someone shows me one of my mistakes. I recently taught a class where the group walked through a series of instructions I had written. A stroke of brilliance—I rarely claim that, but in this case I do—came to me. I had a half dozen one-dollar […]

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