by Dwayne Phillips We all make mistakes. Some are allowable and some not. There is the mistake budget. We all make mistakes. The sooner we acknowledge and live that the better we will be (IMHO). Some mistakes, like typographical errors in blog posts, are embarrassing but that’s about the cost. Other mistakes, those that cost […]
Entries Tagged as 'Leadership'
Mistakes: Allowable and Not
April 2nd, 2026 · No Comments
Tags: Accountability · Agreement · Government · Leadership · Learning · Management · Mistakes · Money
Panic and Focus
February 16th, 2026 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Does panic create focus? Perhaps. Perhaps some of us would just rather avoid panic. I saw something silly this morning on some society media site. It read: I don’t procrastinate. I simply wait until sheer panic improves my focus, It’s a highly refined strategy that I have been perfecting for years. I […]
Tags: Adapting · Agility · Chaos · Commitment · Expectations · Leadership · Planning · Work
The Pit of Endless Details
January 22nd, 2026 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Wait. Stop. Someone grab that person. That person is about to fall into the pit of endless details. Oh no. It’s too late! I know it’s about to happen. I should be able to do something to stop it. Oh no. It happened too fast. There is nothing I can do. The […]
Tags: Communication · Concepts · Context · Conversation · Leadership · Learning
With Great Certainty
December 22nd, 2025 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips I often hear people speak with great certainty. Further consideration, however, reveals almost no certainty. People like to speak with great certainty. I write those words because I often hear people speak with great certainty. If people don’t like to do that, why do they do it almost all the time? Great […]
Tags: Clarity · Communication · Honesty · Leadership · Problems · Talk
Eating Asparagus
December 4th, 2025 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Influencing behavior via modeling instead of coating with chocolate syrup. I recently read an article written by a mother describing how she had her children eat vegetables. The answer applies to all behaviors that are distasteful to some persons. There is an old joke about a farmer who fed his dogs spinach. […]
Tags: Communication · Consulting · Expectations · Leadership · Learning · Management
What Do You Want?
December 1st, 2025 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips A simple question can start a meaningful conversation that prevents bad things from happening. As I write this post, our elected representatives ended a partial shutdown of our Federal government a couple of days ago. Such shutdown set some type of record and brought lots of grief to thousands of people. I […]
Tags: Conversation · Leadership · Learning · Management · Questions · Work
But That’s Your Job
September 15th, 2025 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Managing work and leading people isn’t easy. It is, however, the job of managers. I have recently seen several articles about the struggle to bring people back into the office two, three, or even five days a week. And there are requirements to prove that a person actually came to the office, […]
Tags: Jobs · Leadership · Management · People · Work
Observe and Notice
July 31st, 2025 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Two fundamental tasks most of us should attempt everyday. Perhaps you manage work in your profession. Much of what I write is pointed towards us managers of work. I also point towards us leaders of people. Manage and lead. Fundamentals. Two basic tasks of managers and leaders are observing and noticing. Two […]
Tags: Leadership · Learning · Listening · Management · Notice · Observation
Doing It Wrong or Recounting It Wrong
July 7th, 2025 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips I can do something wrong. I can do something right, but be mistaken in how I tell the story of the doing. There is a difference. Is one mistake better? I can do something wrong. For example, not tighten the lug nuts properly when I change a tire on a car. I […]
Tags: Communication · Ethics · Government · History · Leadership · Learning · Thinking
The Suggestion in the Form of a Question
June 9th, 2025 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Like the TV game show Jeopardy, lets make suggestions in the form of a question. The TV show Jeopardy always had the answer in the form of a question. This always seemed silly to me, but the show was and still is successful, so what do I know about TV game show […]
Tags: Communication · Ideas · Leadership · Learning · Questions · Teaching · Thinking