Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips We spend too much time avoiding some tasks. They are not interesting, praiseworthy, or worthy of note. We simply cannot stay on task. I recommend changing tasks – at least temporarily. There are many benefits to changing tasks. Some benefits apply to the original task. All the benefits apply to me. I […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Most organizations have “magic words.” Utter these words and things happen. If you don’t know the words, work slows and frustration rises. None of this makes any sense, but nonsense continues to exist and often thrives. Years ago, a colleague who lived in a nearby rural area wanted to construct a building […]

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by Dwayne Phillips I return to some of my technical roots this week. I am experimenting with the OpenCV image processing and computer vision library. This is fun. This is a “techie” blog post. Many years ago I worked with image processing. I did this work in graduate school and then wrote a lot of […]

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by Dwayne Phillips The computer has become the learning appliance. Don’t believe me? Just ask my six-year-old niece. So what do schools do now? “What are you searching?” That was a simple question. Last weekend I was in Chattanooga, Tennessee visiting with relatives. I was sitting in front of my portable computer studying and modifying […]

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by Dwayne Phillips I like writing exercises – things that make me think. I came across a good one today from Kenneth Davis at ManageYourWriting.com. He calls it the Alphabet Shift. choose a word you’ve written beginning with a letter from the first half of the alphabet. Replace it with a more effective word beginning […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Being a grandfather has taught me a few things about managing work. How can a baby teach an adult so much in so little time? I am a grandfather; I have been one for 6 1/2 wonderful months. I see my grandson on average every three to seven days (funny how I […]

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by Dwayne Phillips I learned something big and useful this week – really useful. After kicking myself for not knowing it already, I grew some humility. Learning comes from unexpected people, times, and places. I resolve to use what energy I have to pay attention for the next thing coming my way. I learned something […]

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by Dwayne Phillips There are many methods to use to reach a conclusion. Since they all involve fallible people like me, most of the methods are fallible. Expect requests for further study. Anticipate them and ask others to study alongside you from the beginning. Arriving at a conclusion is a primary task of an engineer, […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Bringing about change in a group of people is perhaps the most difficult task anyone can undertake. An old fable sheds light on one technique for encouraging change. I wish I knew the origin of this little fable. I hope that I relay it well enough. Anyways, here goes: Once upon a […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Urgency and energy are great qualities to have in the people on your project. Urgency can be instilled in people via careful and thoughtful motivation. Energy may come in the door with some people. Given either of these, work moves quickly. Without them, work doesn’t move. I have become my father. That […]

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