by Dwayne Phillips We have computing power a thousand magnitudes greater than what took us to the moon and back. And we use it to play checkers. Sitting here in the coffee shop writing these blog posts, I look across the room and note someone playing checkers on their new Windows 11 computer. Also on […]
Entries Tagged as 'Humility'
Playing Checkers on the Computer
August 22nd, 2024 · No Comments
Tags: Communication · Computing · Energy · Humility · Humor · Technology · Writing
I Don’t Understand What You Are Saying
June 10th, 2024 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes we just don’t understand when someone else doesn’t understand. I was recently attending a meeting online. This was one of those ZoomerTeams things where the PowerPoint was on the screen and the presenter was talking in a room with one of those microphones on the conference table. I couldn’t understand what […]
Tags: Clarity · Communication · Expectations · Honesty · Humility · Listening · Respect
Just Doing Their Jobs (For Better or Worse)
May 30th, 2024 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Despite the celebrity appearances of celebrities, the vase majority of folks just do their jobs (for better or worse). As I write, the months-long antitrust trial of Google may draw to a close. As this article reports, the vast majority of Google employees aren’t giving that thing the slightest bit of attention. […]
Tags: Appearances · Fable · Fashion · Google · Humility · Justice · Work
Fly Under the Radar for a While
April 18th, 2024 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Keep your earth-shattering new thing quiet for a while. Once it works, shout. This is basic risk management. Something has never been done before. That means it is difficult. I have a solution. I can do it or I think I can do it. The best practice, in my experience of doing […]
Tags: Humility · Management · Process · Risk · Work
Inability
January 1st, 2024 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes we meet someone who lacks the ability to do something. How do we react? As I write this post, I am having one of those weeks when I have the inability to do something simple. For some reason, I woke one day this week with a sore left knee. The next […]
Tags: Competence · Help · Humility · Injury · Judgment · Patience · Thank you
Accelerate the Learning
October 19th, 2023 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Learning is good as it leads to better performance and other beneficial things. There are tools available that accelerate learning. Let’s use those. I try to learn. Sometimes I forget to learn. Yes, fatigue clobbers my mind and I simply forget to notice things, store them, and use them. There are tools […]
Tags: Competence · Energy · Fatigue · Growth · Humility · Improvement · Learning · Thinking · Tools
Engineers and Philosophers
October 5th, 2023 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips It is often best to leave the conversations of another profession to those other professionals. I am an engineer. There, got that out of the way. And I have a Doctor of Philosophy or PhD in engineering. I have not idea why they call the degree by that name. Oh well, got […]
Tags: Communication · Engineering · Expertise · Humility · Language
Take Pride in the Ability to Learn
September 25th, 2023 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Learning is a good thing. There are things I can do to prevent learning. Those are not so good. I don’t know it all. I do know how to learn. I do know how to recognize that I am clueless and I need to learn. Pride in knowing it all keeps me […]
Tags: Adapting · Change · Humility · Learning
The Screen Still Isn’t Big Enough
August 14th, 2023 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips We seem to think that everything will be on the screen and we don’t need to use pieces of paper. Years ago, we didn’t have the computers we have today. How many years ago? Twenty? Ten? Two? Years ago, some of us would take great pains to put lots of information on […]
Tags: Clarity · Humility · Information · Knowledge · Notebook · Technology
Work a Little, Learn a Little
August 3rd, 2023 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips If we work a little, learn a little, and repeat, we can do some pretty impressive things. We don’t, however, like to do this “little” thing. Let’s work a little, talk about what we did, learn a little, and try again. That reduces the misunderstandings. That keeps us from wasting resources by […]