Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips In the hall, in the dark corners that cannot be seen by humans, lurks a monster. We, or us, know the monster. It goes by the name “they” or “them.” I suppose this post goes under the category of “something that happens almost daily when ‘we’ talk about our problems.” Someone is […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Try as we might, we often jump to a conclusion while bypassing the rather boring gathering of facts. Results are predictable and predicted. “Jump to conclusions” is an old cliche. Let’s try to put a little more thought into this topic. Consider the Satir Interaction Model from the late family therapist Virginia […]

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by Dwayne Phillips I observe that some people will transfer the power over their lives to people whom they disdain. I find this odd, but I find it often. Some people will give other people power over their lives. The conversation goes something like this: Person A: “That person is ruining my life!” Me: “How […]

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by Dwayne Phillips I find there are three characteristics I want to see in the people who work with me. There are three things I want to see in the people who work with me: They know what they are doing They have the self-discipline to do it They have the courage to tell the […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Several years ago I was working with a troubled project. We had a few days to plan and learn. Here are 14 lessons I learned. Several years ago,  I spent three full days with a group of people trying to plan their way on a project that was failing. They were doing […]

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by Dwayne Phillips I learn how to raise someone else’s power by losing some of my own. I once received a call in my office from a gentleman named Brian. Brian worked for a company up the road half an hour away. There was something weighing heavy on Brian’s mind. He didn’t sound like himself […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Longevity almost always wins over positions of authority. A conversation: Person A: You must do what I say because I am a VP or deputy under assistant director of something or other. Person B: Really? Person A: Yes. Person B: Let’s see, I have 15 years to retirement and the average above […]

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by Dwayne Phillips The iPad and its apps are the latest tech gadget that can help in the classroom (any kind of classroom in almost any setting). One issue is that once a student loves the iPad, they ignore the teacher – the person. Persons have feelings and sometimes persons have hurt feelings. Let’s employ […]

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by Dwayne Phillips A blink-of-an-eye expert can walk into a situation and point to disastrous mistakes in the blink of an eye. My wife knows kitchens and what happens in kitchens. She can walk in a kitchen full of people cooking something, and if they are doing something wasteful, she can point to it immediately. […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Take care when you have opposite types of people in the room for a meeting. Be sure to have someone in the room with the primary interest of ensuring communication among the groups. A few months ago, I sat in a meeting. On one side of the table were customers; on the […]

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