Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips We are almost always uncertain. That is why we should plan key decision points. “We knew what were were doing, right?” asked one of the decision makers after everything collapsed. “Well, it sounded good when we started,” replied another one of the decision makers after everything collapsed. No, sorry, we didn’t know […]

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by Dwayne Phillips A phrase to add to every assignment or action item or anything that goes on a “to do” list. Years ago, author and consultant Jerry Weinberg gave an assignment to attendees of his writing seminar. It was something like: Think of what you should write today. Write that. Do that tomorrow, too. […]

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by Dwayne Phillips The path to solution is often found in the next (logical) question. Person A: How much will this cost? Person B: I don’t know? Person A: When will you know? Person B: Uh, I don’t know that either? Person A: What will you need to do so that you know? Person B: […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Three years from now may never come. “I don’t want to be ‘locked into’ company A because company B may have a better offering in three years. We need to be able to shift to company B.”—a well-meaning advisor. In three years, the world may be different. Let’s remain agile. Let’s keep […]

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by Dwayne Phillips The first step, if taken carefully, eliminates almost all other directions from consideration and frees the mind for everything else. I’ve read about trackers, i.e., those persons who are assigned to find someone who is lost. They find people lost in the woods. The most important thing the tracker does is to […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Plans are significant things. We produce them with significant effort. Otherwise, we are merely chatting about our hopes, dreams, and wishes. Person A: We have a plan for that. Person B: Great. May I see it? Person A: What do you mean? Person B: Your plan. May I see it? May I […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Nothing new here. Lack of planning still brings emergency responses and all sort of bad reactions. I suppose we have to be reminded of this from time to time. There are various ways to say it like: Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part or […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes success catches us by surprise. Too bad as we miss an opportunity. Success may not come, but be ready if it does. Years ago, I went to a conference and spoke. Some persons approached me and asked for more information and contacts and cards and seminars. Wow. What a success. I, […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Someone on the team needs to be a little farther away from the problem than the rest of us. Once upon a time…a team of engineers and such had a major design review in Florida. The team didn’t live in Florida. The head of the team, thoroughly enmeshed in the details of […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Often “plans” are merely “ideas.” Ideas suffice if they are small enough. We have a lot of plans where I work and recreate. The trouble is, I can’t ever seem to find them. No one can produce an artifact that records the plan. Truth is, the plan is in the mind of […]

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