Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

I am a problem solver. Sometimes, however, solving a problem is the worst thing to do.

This story made the rounds recently about how our military is experimenting with small jolts of electricity to keep sleep-deprived troops awake. The electricity might have fewer bad side affects than the current treatment — lots of coffee or Jolt Cola or Red Bull or that Five Hour drink thing.

Then again, the military might try to eliminate the problem of sleep-deprived soldiers. I mean, why are we depriving our troops of needed sleep? Surely, better management of resources could, well, you know, allow them to sleep as needed.

I go back to a morning conversation many years ago. A colleague’s father was once a cook in the Army (back to our military, see a trend here?). His troops were spending lots of time and cleaning products removing spilled sugar at the coffee station from the mess hall along with killing the pests that the sugar attracted. My colleague’s father threw away the sugar at the coffee station. No one spent any more resources cleaning spilled sugar or chasing pests.

He eliminated the problem vice solving it.

As in the case of sleep-deprived soldiers, eliminating problems requires innovation by managers. And that, is rare.

by Dwayne Phillips

Writers need not be afraid to take a chance in their writing. Criticism first requires something that most of us writers lack.

Writers are insecure. Well, I read that a lot on the Internet. We don’t write this or that because we are afraid of being criticized for writing something like that.

I offer this one bit of hope:

security via obscurity

This little phrase is often used to comfort all of us on the Internet. No one will hack into my email account because I am only one of a billion people using Internet. I am not rich or famous or anything worthy of attention. I amobscure, so no one will bother me.

I apply this phrase to writers.

To be criticized for what you write, someone has to read it.

And, take it from me, the odds on anyone reading what we write is very, very small. The vast majority of us who write are obscure. Sure, J.K. Rowling will be criticized for her next book and hundreds of major reviewers will join in the criticism.

Me? No one will criticize my next book because maybe a hundred people will read parts of it, and none of them are major reviewers.

Take a chance. Write that poem or story or novel or book about that topic that you aren’t supposed to write. Any criticism will come from people who read it. If you are afraid your mother will read it, don’t give her a free copy. If she buys a copy and criticizes you, soothe your conscience by holding the royalties in your hand.

by Dwayne Phillips

I sing the praises of Jumpcut: a little clipboard buffer for OS X.

I do a lot of copying and pasting on my computer. That saves me untold hours of time typing. It also saves me from making data entry errors.

I use Jumpcut: a little clipboard buffer for OS X. It works well, didn’t cost me anything, and, let me repeat, works well.

One of the odd benefits that I never considered until I used the tool is that when I copy a piece of text and paste it directly, the font and other formatting comes with it. When, instead, I paste from Jumpcut, no formatting comes with the text. Instead the local formatting is used. I love that.

by Dwayne Phillips

“Be the Best” is a misguided goal because it is based on other people.

A few years ago, I worked for a government agency who proclaimed loudly and often that it was the Best fill-in-the-blank agency in the Federal government. I tried in vain to convince people that was a misguided goal.

If all the other agencies in the government were lousy at fill-in-the-blank, we only had to be mediocre to be the best. Who wanted to be mediocre? Fast forward to today and we learn that government agencies are behind and falling further behind in the area of Information Technology. If you are the best IT agency in the Federal government, well, you aren’t too good.

The problem with being the best is that I compare yourself to other persons. My goal is based not on myself, but on other persons. How good the other persons are is out of my control.

Solution: (I am supposed to offer solutions in blog posts, right?) Make my goal to be excellent at fill-in-the-blank. My success will depend on me, not other people. I will concentrate on my performance instead of looking at everyone else.

by Dwayne Phillips

The napkin or envelope is still one of the best tools for the engineer or manager or fill-in-the-blank.

I have a(n old-fashioned) laptop computer, a smartphone, and a tablet – and I still write notes on a napkin. Yes, I am old, that is part of the explanation. Yet, there is something about the utility of a pen and a napkin.

When I worked full time as an engineer, I was credited with be quite good at back-of-the-envelope calculations. Now, as I spend much of my day in coffee shops (like this one), many of my calculations are on a napkin.

It is at this point in the blog post that I am supposed to summarize this with some brilliant quip. Well, here are a few attempts:

• napkin notes are temporary, so I don’t have to take them seriously
• napkin notes are ugly, but I don’t show them to anyone else so I don’t care
• napkin notes are unreadable by anyone else, that is okay as they are intended for me only
• napkin notes are approximations, so they don’t have to be correct
• napkin notes are quick, nothing else to add here

I guess the most important thing is that I like making notes on a napkin, so I do it. And finally, I find what may be a(n almost) brilliant quip:

A good tool is one that you use.

by Dwayne Phillips

Why do we do that? I find two answers to that question.

The world is not complicated – at least if viewed from certain perspectives.

1. Why do we burn fossil fuels?
2. Why do athletes use steroids?

Simple answer: because they work.

But we move on to observing people do things that don’t work.

1. Why do people over eat?
2. Why do people drive faster than the speed limit?

Simple answer: because we like to.

So there we have it, the explanations of the world: (1) because it works and then (2) because we like to.

Yes, there are many questions for which these two answers don’t apply. I urge you, however, to consider these two answers first.

by Dwayne Phillips

People often choose a development method without any reason other than, “that is what everyone is doing now.” I urge a bit more thought. More thought on day one brings more time and energy the rest of the way.

Agile development is all the rage today. I know because I am unemployed and I read many job descriptions daily. The ones that deal with system development ask for experience with agile development.

Sometimes people ask me if I have experience with agile. I answer yes, and ask them why they are using agile. Most of the time, they have no answer. Those who do have an answer say, “because the customer told us to use agile.”

About ten years ago, the rage was “spiral development.” Again, I would ask people why they used spiral development, and there was no answer. No one could even tell me that Barry Boehm invented spirals or why he did.

There are many ways to develop a system. Each way has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Does the method fit your situation?

People hate to consider this question, at least that is my experience.

I understand the reluctance. Most people I meet are busy and tired – they simply don’t have the energy to consider yet another deep question. Then again, their failure to consider a “deep” question on day one of a project has led them down the wrong path and brought busy-ness and fatigue.

by Dwayne Phillips

I build a heater from two clay flower pots and some tea candles.

I saw this on the Internet (how many times have you heard that one) and decided to build my own.

It was very cold the week I did this, so that explains why I did it. I saw that you could build a heater with some candles and clay flower pots. Why not try?

This first photo shows my configuration: two tea candles (See NOTE below) set in a bread-making pan. The aluminum foil was to keep wax from spilling on my wife’s pan and causing domestic angst.

Candles in Pan

NOTE: I have no idea what makes a candle a “tea candle.” Beware what the big candle lobby can do in Congress.

The second photo shows the configuration after setting the smaller clay pot on top of the bread-making pan. The aluminum foil on top of this clay pot is necessary as it prevents the hot air from the candles from flowing out of the top of the pot. We want the small clay pot to become hot, so stop the flow of air.

Smaller Clay Pot in Position

The third photo shows the final heater configuration. The larger clay pot is now resting above the smaller clay pot. The hole on the larger clay pot is left open. Hot air will exhaust here.

The theory is simple. The candles, ooops, I mean, the tea candles will heat the small clay pot. Cold air flows up from the open bottom of the large clay pot across the surface of the small, hot clay pot. That air heats in the process and then exhausts through the open hole in the large clay pot.

I tested this. It works. I measured the temperature of the room air at 64 degrees F (no, I don’t spend a lot of money on central heat). I measured the temperature of the air exhausting from the large clay pot at 88 degrees F.

Larger Clay Pot in Position

Some of the web sites I saw on the Internet claimed that this heater would heat a small room. That didn’t happen in my experiment, but I believe that my configuration was too small to do that. Had I used larger clay pots and more tea candles, like I saw in several Internet demonstrations, I believe I could have generated enough heat.

Enough thermodynamics for this week.

by Dwayne Phillips

Take care with the reasons why you write. You may be putting the decisions of others as the key to your satisfaction.

Why do you write?

People who don’t write often ask me this. Google that question and see a million blog posts for answers.

One of the things I do is write short stories. I post these on Smashwords and have quite a collection there – almost a hundred of them. In an earlier blog post, I explained my reasons for writing short stories. Making millions of dollars was one goal, but having fun writing was the more realistic and often-accomplished goals.

Now to the topic of control and motivation for writing:

Motivate yourself with something that you alone can control.

Suppose my motivation for writing stories and books was to make a lot of money. To make a lot of money, I would need:

• other people to publish my works
• other people to read my works
• other people to buy my works

Hmm, lots of other people involved. Can I control the people who publish, read, and buy the written word? No. They decide what they will do. Therefore, if my motivation is money and all these other people don’t cooperate, I will be greatly disappointed.

If, however, my motivation is something that I alone can control. I can be greatly satisfied. My primary motivation for writing is something like:

• the fun of telling a story
• relieving my mind be writing my thoughts
• improving my writing by writing and writing and writing

I control these. I can satisfy myself. I can sleep much better at night, and I like that.

by Dwayne Phillips

A sense of urgency is obvious as people think, work, and move faster than when there is no such sense. There is a source of urgency that managers can find to help instill the sense.

1980, (yes, I am that old) I visited several contractors who were working with us. People moved quickly. Things got done (in the days before GTD was some sort of hash tag or movement or whatever). 1996, I visited several contractors who were working with us. People moved slowly. Things only got done after everyone realized that nothing had been accomplished and cost and schedule over runs were reported.

The difference:

in 1980 we had a sense of urgency. In 1996, there was no such sense.

I find it hard to describe a sense of urgency to someone who has never experienced it. People with a sense of urgency move faster – faster at everything, even walking to the bathroom or pressing the Copy button on the copier. When people on a project have no sense of urgency, the project manager is simply in a bad situation.

There was a big difference in my experiences of 1980 and 1996:

in 1980, people knew why they were working.

That was not the case in 1996. If you recall your recent world history, the world was a different place in 1980 with the Soviet block and all that. After the fall of the Berlin wall, things changed and many people, at least in my “sector,”  lost a sense of urgency.

No sense of urgency in your workplace? Do you want one? Find a reason for working and spread that.