Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Whatever method you use to accomplish your work, you are choosing it over something else. You gain something with your choice; you lose something with your choice. That is your trade.

“We do DevSecOps,” said one practitioner. “We do agile,” said another. “We do what we feel like doing everyday,” said a third.

Fine. What did you trade away to do what you are doing? The answer is usually a blank stare.

We choose what we choose because we want it on some day for some reason. We trade away something in return.

Agile is faster than waterfall in some situations. It is slower in other situations. The same is true for DevSecOps. The same will be true for whatever comes next.

Each method works better for some people in some situations at some times. Nothing is perfect, and pretending otherwise is merely pretending.

Iterative methods of all kinds lose efficiency when you know what you want. Step-by-step review methods lose efficiency in uncertainty. If you don’t believe me, let’s walk through some long examples.

We usually trade efficiency for certainty in methods. Sometimes we trade other more important things. Sometimes what we are trading the presence of some people whom we like more than others. Ouch. That last one hurts, but sometimes it is true.

by Dwayne Phillips

This is a basic thing to do when working as a group to create and refine ideas.

This procedure works with just about any task where a group of persons is working together to create and refine ideas. One example is gathering requirements and creating preliminary designs. Another is outlining or formulating a document ranging from a business proposal to a script for a play.

Use several white boards or flip charts or whatever you have. Have on such board for each step or set of ideas.

Stand at one board, work it, gather ideas from the group until the room becomes quiet for a few moments. Stop at this board.

Move to the next board, work it, gather ideas from the group until the room becomes quiet for a few moments. Stop at this board.

Move to the next board and repeat.

Keep moving to the next board until you reach the last board and repeat.

Go back to the first board and repeat all of the above. This is the “walk around” idea. We have walked all the way around the room and we return to the first board.

Review, change, and continue.

How many times do we walk around the room? When the ideas stop, we stop.

by Dwayne Phillips

The current situation brings with it the usual proclamations by those who, despite public appearances, appear to be illiterate. We need not join them.

The current crisis brings with it, as most do, a new set of slang and expressions. Many of these are issued by public officials who, by all appearances, are educated. Most, however, seem to be illiterate.

Social Distancing: No one is asking for social distancing. They are asking for physical distancing. I can stand in my driveway and have a deep conversation with my neighbor as he stands in his driveway some 50 feet away. We are physically distance yet socially close. Many religious organizations are having meetings online. They are socially quite close while being physically quite distant.

Virtual Meetings (virtual weddings, virtual funerals, virtual classes, etc.): Back in the old days, when my mother talked on the telephone for an hour with a friend, no one called that a virtual conversation. They were talking on the telephone. People who are distant from one another (from afar or “tele”) have actual conversations, actual meetings, actual etc. even though they are distant from one another. We can have a tele-meeting or a remote meeting. Those are actual meetings, not virtual meetings. A virtual meeting is something that appears to be a meeting, but actually isn’t a meeting. I am not sure what that would be.

These are troublesome times. Illiteracy need not characterize them.

by Dwayne Phillips

Sometimes we don’t do some things at work merely because they are inconvenient.

“I don’t want to do such-and-such,” said busy, hardworking person at work.

“It is inconvenient to me,” thought the same person but didn’t say it aloud.

Work can be fun and rewarding or as some have said, “Pleasant, productive, and profitable.” Some tasks at work aren’t so pleasant, but we do them so we can reach the other things most of the time.

And then there are days when we simply … well, we skip those things that are inconvenient. No one will notice, much. No one will have to work extra to make up, much. It will be okay, probably. Besides. There is always “besides.”

Yes, there is plenty of busy work at work. Things that really don’t need to happen. Then, however, there are things that are inconvenient that need to happen. Let’s admit that some tasks are inconvenient, but let’s do them anyways.

by Dwayne Phillips

Inspiration for something to writer or a “starter” is everywhere. Here is a simple method of finding it.

Looking for something to write? Looking for a starter for the next piece to write?

1. Go to any book shelf.
2. Grab any book.
3. Open to any page.
4. Point to any line.
5. Copy that line.
6. Keep going.

For example, I am sitting at a bar in a restaurant. I go to Gutenberg.org and click on one of their Latest eBooks. It happens to be, “The Castaways of the Flag: The Final Adventures of the Swiss Family Robinson” by Jules Verne (I’ve heard of him, but not the book). I click on the HTML online version and randomly scroll down.

I click on a line, it reads, “Captain Gould rushed down into his cabin and came back with a pistol in his hand. But he was not given time to use it.”

I continue…The damage had been done. The drunken sociopath had steered the yacht parallel to the coming wave. Gould tucked the pistol into his coat pocket (perhaps it would be of use in the coming days) and grabbed a flotation device from the wall. The yacht rolled slowly and nothing would stop it from the disastrous conclusion. The drunk didn’t know what was about to happen, but Gould did…

The beginning of a survival-at-sea short story or novel or screenplay.

Next.

by Dwayne Phillips

Writing is tough on any day. Things now are tough for some of us in some ways on some days. Writing is still tough and still possible. Let’s stop kidding ourselves.

I have read a dozen blog posts about “writing in tough times.” These are tough times, right? Well, in some ways on some days these are tough times for some writers.

I have not heard about massive electrical outages anywhere. I have not heard about massive Internet outages anywhere. I have not heard that chairs have been taken from homes to be destroyed.

Sit in the chair, put your hands on the keyboard and write. One keystroke, one word, one line, one page. WRITE.

No one is stopping anyone from writing.

And if the power goes out? Grab a pencil and a pile of paper and WRITE.

No one is topping anyone from writing.

W R I T E

But, but, but…no buts. W R I T E.

But it is tough now? It is always tough. We write because we write. We know it is tough. We write.

Kids worn you to a frazzle? Write about that. Job lost? Write about that. Afraid to go anywhere? Write about that. Afraid to write anything? Write about that.

Any questions?

by Dwayne Phillips

The new boss arrives. Everyone tells her what they are doing all at once in great detail. The new boss is “sipping from the fire hose.”

I heard this “sipping from the fire hose” phrase a thousand times in my career. The new boss arrives. She is inundated with details during the first few days and weeks. None of it makes any sense. Still, the “information” flushes her brain.

None of the information is summarized. None of the information is organized. None of the information is anything-ized that will have it make sense.

Putting the information into a format that makes sense and is understandable requires work on the part of those who have the information. That is W O R K. And that is part of their jobs. Refusing to package the information into an -izable format is part of their jobs.

Hence, all this “sipping from the fire hose” is a demonstration of those persons simply refusing to do their job. Oh. That’s not good.

Hence, the new boss has learned her first lesson about the persons at work.

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 have a copy of your plan?

Person A: Well, I mean we haven’t put it on the computer or on paper or anything, but we have a plan.

Person B: Great. May I see it?

Person A: …silence…

Person B: A plan states specifically who will do what to what end. It sounds like you have talked to a few other persons about what you want to do. Right?

Person A: Well, sort of.

Person B: So, you don’t actually have a plan. You have some things that you hope will happen if something else happens.

Person A: Well, sort of.

Person B: Let me know when you have a plan. Or let me know if you want to create a plan.

by Dwayne Phillips

People can learn. A little basic vocabulary plus the desire to work hard means they are qualified to move into something new.

Years ago, a young woman told me about how she wanted to move into a Spanish linguist job. She had an English-Spanish dictionary and some books written in Spanish. She read as far as she could, looked up a word, repeat. This was incredibly slow and difficult, but that is how she started to teach herself.

Recently, I moved into a side area of a field that was relatively new to me. I faced the same thing as this young woman faced years ago. Read a little, hit a new term, study that term, resume reading, repeat.

I did an exercise a few weekends ago where I was transforming a text file from one format to another. I did so in the Python programming language. I Googled much about Python and regular expressions. To do so meant I needed the vocabulary to query Google. I had obtained that vocabulary a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

Hey recruiters! Judging job candidates? Do they have enough vocabulary to start? Do they have enough desire to go through the above, slow, difficult procedure? If the answers are, “Yes,” they are qualified.

by Dwayne Phillips

A few thoughts on an item that has been forgotten in the workplace and society in general, the Memorandum for the Record.  

Question: Can you believe what just happened? We should tell somebody. Somebody needs to know this. What do we do? 

Answer: Write a Memorandum for the Record or MFR. 

Follow-up Question: A what? 

Follow-up Answer: An MFR. 

Enough Q&A. An MFR is a note to posterity. Someday, that heretofore unknown “somebody” will be able to read of an event pertinent to the workplace. What seemed important to somebody, the questioner above, is recorded. 

Format: This is simple, but don’t miss the witness step. 

Memorandum for the Record 

From: me 

Subject: what just happened 

Date:  

A description of the events: Write this with almost every sentence beginning with “I,” such as, “I heard this person say, I read something, I saw this person do that to that person, etc.” Avoid, “That person said…” and especially verbs that imply knowing another person’s intent such as, “That person threatened me.” Writing in such a style may be difficult, but do it. Remove personal interpretations and emotions as much as possible. An MFR records history. It is not a novel. 

Postscript: I, my name here, have written and signed this MFR on this date. 

Witness: I have read this MFR on this date. My signature affirms nothing other than I read this MFR and signed it on this date. 

It is better to print and sign the MFR (and have the witness do the same) and then put a scan or image of the MFR in several places on the organization’s disk drives. Put a copy on several of your own disk drives. Keep the piece of paper. A safe deposit box at the bank is the best place. Put the paper in an envelope and ask the bank to stamp the date on the seal of the envelope. If you open the envelope to remind yourself of the contents, have the bank witness the opening and stamp the re-sealing. No one will take your word for it later. Remove that question. 

The witness is important to everyone. Note that the witness is witnessing the writing and signing of the MFR. They did not have to witness the event being reported in the MFR. If they did witness the event, they should be a co-author and signatory of the MFR or they should write their own MFR. In such a case, another person is needed to witness the MFR. 

Why is the MFR needed? It may not be needed. Otherwise, it is a record of an event that the writer deemed important at the time. MFRs, and other records of events such as an engineer’s notebook, often establish property and other rights useful in court years later.  In other cases, they are not binding legal documents, but do record a person’s thoughts at a point in time. 

The witnesses affirm that something was recorded at a point in time close to an event. That is critical. Time blurs memory. Denial of such is folly. Records written close to events provide needed clarity. 

Absence of a written and witnessed record often brings accusations of slander. “Why didn’t you say something at the time?” is a much-maligned question in some circumstances, but it is a legitimate question. The MFR permits a person to “say something” that can be repeated later. Fear is real in the heart of the fearful. The MFR gives the fearful a safe place. 

Read into this reminder of the MFR and advice on its use what you may. MFRs have been invaluable in disputes over intellectual property, estates, hostile work environments, and many other things. The MFR has also been a simple way to record thoughts about an event that is important to no one but myself.