by Dwayne Phillips Show it, break it, fix it, make it better. My two older grandchildren were at my house recently. They are both teenagers now. The older was showing the younger a game that the older programmed. The younger tried an example that broke the game. Angst, frustration, embarrassment, etc. Then the older set […]
Entries Tagged as 'General Systems Thinking'
Learning to Solve Problems
July 15th, 2024 · No Comments
Tags: General Systems Thinking · Improvement · Problems · Solutions · Systems
Happy Birthday, America
July 4th, 2024 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Once again, America is still here. I guess the Peter Principle explains our situation as the founders seemed to understand that. Once again we come to the anniversary of the founding of this grand experiment we call America. This is an election year, and those of who who can still think have […]
Tags: America · General Systems Thinking
The Hero and the System We Really Use
July 1st, 2024 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes the system we really use is not the system we tell people we use. “This system won’t work,” said the person whose job it was to analyze a system. But, the system works, i.e., the group of persons using the system that won’t work seem to get along just fine. In […]
Tags: Analysis · Fear · General Systems Thinking · Management · Systems
Over Organized
June 20th, 2024 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes I find projects that are over organized. There is a good long-term reason for such. It still is a pain for the rest of us. I recently started working on a project that was over organized. The computer files were arranged by this criteria and that criteria and the other criteria. […]
Tags: Adapting · Appearances · Clarity · General Systems Thinking · Management · Systems
The Landmark
March 18th, 2024 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Meet me at the big oak tree outside of town at dusk. They said something like that in the old Westerns. It makes sense to still do this. There was always a showdown or something in the old Westerns. The big oak tree a mile outside of town at dusk. How did […]
Tags: Agreement · General Systems Thinking · Planning · Time · Urgent
Like Us or Like Some of Us
March 11th, 2024 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips We want AI systems to act like us. Or do we? Perhaps we want AI systems to act like some of us. But who is “us” and who is “not us?” Testing shows that the latest and greatest large language models will generate bad information about political campaigns. That is wrong; those […]
Tags: Artificial Intelligence · Censorship · Computing · Concepts · General Systems Thinking · Systems
Large Language Models and Adults
February 1st, 2024 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Large Language Models appear to have all sorts of problems. I wonder why companies that build such don’t hire adults to help build them. I recently learned that large language models (LLMs) have “sleeper agents” in them. Given some inputs, the LLM starts doing crazy things that it shouldn’t do. Gosh. LLMs […]
Tags: Adults · Artificial Intelligence · Computing · Concepts · Engineering · General Systems Thinking · Testing
Flexibility and a Foundation of Fundamentals
August 7th, 2023 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips To be flexible enough to do new things, I often need a foundation of fundamentals in place first. If I am standing on shifting sand, I have to be flexible to adjust my stance and upper body so I don’t fall. Flexibility is required just to stay in place. If I am […]
Tags: Agility · Experiment · General Systems Thinking · Knowledge · Testing
Things Are the Way the Are
July 27th, 2023 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Things are the way they are. But why? An old saying explains much of the reason. There is an old but little known saying, “Things are the way they are because they got that way.” Pause to consider. Yes, of course the saying is correct. We are here because everything and everyone […]
Tags: Accountability · General Systems Thinking · History · Learning · Systems
Understanding What I Should Understand
July 10th, 2023 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Meta understanding is understanding about understanding. This is rarely practiced. That lack of practice is perilous. I once worked with a man who had a high school diploma and nothing else as far as formal education. Still, this person rose in the ranks of government service to the level of Senior Executive […]
Tags: General Systems Thinking · Knowledge · Leadership · Learning · Management · Thinking