Working Up

Working Up in Project Management, Systems Engineering, Technology, and Writing

Working Up header image 4

Entries Tagged as 'Solutions'

Linus’ Law

July 17th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Let’s do what we can do bring more people into the solution-providing space. I am going to repeat some things I wrote in a blog post in 2015. In researching today’s post, I found that old post and wondered a bit at how good it was. Anyway, Linus’ Law is: “given enough […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Education · People · Problems · Solutions · Tools

The Simplest Thing

June 12th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips New problem? Need a new solution. First, try the simplest thing. It happened again at work the other day. We have a new problem (new day, new problem). We need a new solution. What will we do? Hmmm, there are so many options. Each option with its good things and bad things […]

[Read more →]

Tags: General Systems Thinking · Leadership · Problems · Process · Solutions · Thinking

Problems With (or Without) Solutions

March 20th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips We were once told, “Don’t bring me a problem without a solution.” I hope most of us have ignored that. There was a time when I was repeatedly told at work, “Don’t bring me a problem without a solution.” The idea was that bosses had enough to do already and didn’t need […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Management · Problems · Solutions

Worthwhile Problems?

January 26th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips I see amazing solutions and advances in technology everyday. Are all these, however, solving worthwhile problems? I recently read about how persons at Nvidia created a system that modifies a live video so that the eyeballs of the person on camera point to the camera. This happens while the real eyeballs are […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Choose · Engineering · Problems · Solutions · Technology · Wishes

The Metaphor and Thinking

January 19th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Old metaphors indicate many problems. One result, however, is that they prevent thought. Thinking is a pretty good practice, and I discourage anything that reduces it. The old metaphor should be avoided. George Orwell wrote about this in his essay on Politics and the English Language. Orwell wrote it much better than […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Communication · General Systems Thinking · Problems · Solutions · Thinking · Writing

The Problem, the Solution, and Focus

January 16th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips We can focus on only one thing at a time. That is part of the definition of “focus.” There are ideas for shifting focus that work pretty well. I can focus on one thing at a time. That is what “focus” means—one thing at a time. Am I focusing on the problem […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Problems · Process · Solutions · Technology · Tools

One Thing at a Time

January 12th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips How to you accomplish a big task? One thing at a time. Sorry, I wish there were magic here, but I have yet to see any of that. I recently removed 6,000 pounds of items from a home. Given each item weighed half a pound on average, that is … a whole […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Concepts · General Systems Thinking · Lifecycle · Problems · Process · Solutions

Problems to Solve

January 5th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips What problems do we want to solve? The simpler are usually the more difficult and more important. “World hunger,” has been the answer for beauty queens and scholars my entire life. That was the answer to the problem we should solve. The trouble is, world hunger was solved a hundred years ago. […]

[Read more →]

Tags: General Systems Thinking · Problems · Solutions · Teaching

Scale or Interest?

August 15th, 2022 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips This solution didn’t scale, so we stopped using it when it hit its limit. Perhaps the actual explanation is that we lost interest in this solution, so we stopped using it when we became tire of it. There are many occasions when a new system works when it is new. Everyone is […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Expectations · Fatigue · Management · Problems · Scale · Solutions

First, Let’s Do Something Useful

April 18th, 2022 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips When introducing something new, it helps to do something useful at the beginning and then delve into more details and more powerful capabilities later. I am interested in robotics, software, and my grandchildren. The intersection of these centers on my grandchildren and finding things for them to do when they visit me. […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Childhood · Learning · Solutions · Time · Tools · Work