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 […]
Entries Tagged as 'People'
14 Lessons from a Troubled Project
July 9th, 2012 · No Comments
Tags: Learning · Management · Observation · People
Power and Listening
July 5th, 2012 · No Comments
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 […]
Tags: Communication · People
Who is in Charge Here?
June 7th, 2012 · No Comments
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 […]
Tags: Culture · Management · People
But Then They Won’t Pay Attention (to me)
March 12th, 2012 · No Comments
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 […]
Tags: Education · Family · iPad · Learning · People
Blink-of-an-Eye Expertise
December 15th, 2011 · No Comments
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. […]
Tags: Adapting · Education · People · Thinking
They’re Not Upset, They’re Just Thinking
November 21st, 2011 · No Comments
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 […]
Tags: Communication · Meetings · People
Odd (but Frequent) Decision
October 17th, 2011 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips In government acquisition, the government employees make the decisions about projects. They often have to decide whether to continue or cancel a troubled project. The decision they often render is odd. I worked in government acquisition circles for over 25 years. One of the principle tenets of that field is: Contractor employees […]
Tags: Judgment · Management · People
The Free-Form Data Entry Template
September 15th, 2011 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips How to cross the barrier of the blank sheet of paper. I love a blank sheet of paper. I know a lot of people who don’t. I was in a meeting once where people were given blank sheets of paper and literally revolted. They wanted some type of template to focus their […]
Tags: Adapting · Meetings · People · Process
Solving Problems – A Review
September 12th, 2011 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips I learned a problem-solving method when I was a sophomore in college (in the previous millenium). It still works. I have a problem today at work. I have no idea what to do. Let’s fall back in time to my second year of calculus in college. The professor told us something like: […]
Tags: People · Problems · Process
Unrelated Indicators
September 5th, 2011 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips People off tip off what they are about to do (pick up the remote control and you are about to watch television). There are other tip offs or indicators that are not so obvious. I was sitting in a meeting a few weeks back. I put on my $1 reading glasses and […]
Tags: Observation · People