Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

It seems that “common sense” is what others need, which says much about me.

Me: Someone who has that malady should stay home and get well.

Me (later): I am fine. I am not that sick. I can do my job even when I am not completely well.

Common sense. It is what other persons need when they are a little sick. They should know that they should be home. I have common sense. I know when a sickness is not enough to keep a person (me) from work.

Common sense is when my car is old, but still running well enough to get me to work and around town and can still have one more big repair before I buy a new car. My friend just doesn’t have enough common sense to trade his klunker now while it has some value.

Common sense is when I shovel snow from my driveway so I can drive around. My neighbor doesn’t have good common sense. He isn’t going anywhere, so he should relax and let the sun melt the snow because that is good enough for him.

Funny how I have common sense, but others lack it. Funny how I know what to do at work on projects, but others just don’t seem to understand.

by Dwayne Phillips

We hate to admit it, but we are here and now because of our past actions.

“How did we get here?” bemoans a person currently caught in some quicksand of life.

The answer is, “Out steps brought us here.”

Another answer is, “The system is the way it is because we made it that way.”

The situation, the system, the quicksand just didn’t appear from no where. We walked into the quicksand-laden swamp. We built the system. We created our fate.

Dwell in the past? Probably not a good idea. Forget the past? Also probably not a good idea. Admit the past? I find it to be better than the previous choices. Learn from the past? I find that to be even better yet.

Some things are outside our control. Sometimes we can prepare for those things and not be standing in the way of the hurricane. Most of the time, however, our actions brought us into our current situation.

Choose to learn. It isn’t easy, but…

by Dwayne Phillips

There is a type of project that will not only create a product, but will also cure all ills in an organization. “Get well projects” exist largely in fantasy.

There is a type of project that some of us know as a “get well project.” Such are usually found in organizations that have major problems. The get well project will not only create a new product or service, but it will also cure all the major problems.

Got problems? Find a get well project.

Easier said than done. This is largely because get well projects rarely exist in reality, but are the objects of fantasy and wishful thinking.

Get well projects are easy to identify. They begin with a description of current problems in the organization. Such problems occur over time and can be traced to poor management. They end with a description of a new product or service that has nothing to do with the current problems. It is this dissociation that characterizes the project. Unrelated but major problems will go away.

Sorry. Doesn’t happen. Problems grow slowly. Solutions to such also occur slowly with time, patience, and diligence. That is a major appeal of the get well project: it wipes out all problems quickly and without effort.

Hmmm, solving problems quickly and without effort. Yes, that is the stuff of fantasy.

by Dwayne Phillips

A fundamental question of each of us is, “Do I want someone else to understand?” If yes, great effort may be required. If no, keep moving.

I work with other persons. Nothing unique there, but I am fortunate in that most of these others are really smart and are working on the types of things that really smart persons typically work on.

I often attempt to grasp what these really smart persons are doing. They sometimes attempt to have me grasp what they are doing. We both frequently fail at this.

A fundamental question for these really smart persons (and the rest of us as well) is, “Do I want someone else to understand?” Will an explanation cause a listener to say the two-word title of this post, i.e., “What’dya say?”

In non-fiction communication—the area where I and my colleagues attempt to swim—the communicator must take the role of the defensive driver. I will do more than my part or …

I will make it difficult for the reader to misunderstand.

That is easier written than written. The word “easier” is key. It is difficult to meet the above; it requires lots of effort on my part. Is that effort worth it? It is if the answer to the fundamental question is, “Yes.”

If the answer to the fundamental question is, “No.” Then move along with the work and maybe the others will catch on later. If, however, I depend on the others…

by Dwayne Phillips

Sometimes we don’t know something. There is a magic question that moves us from unknowing to knowing. Three words: when will you?

Person A: How much will this project cost?

Person B: I don’t know.

Person A: When will you (know how much this project will cost)?

Person B: I don’t know.

Person A: When will you (learn how much this project will cost)?

Person B: I don’t know.

Person A: When will you (schedule a learning meeting so that you will learn how much this project will cost)?

Now, Person B knows to

• schedule a learning meeting
• learn at the meeting
• know how much the project will cost
• in that order

We have moved from unknowing to knowing how to know. All from a repeated asking of, “When will you…?”

A problem is that Person A can be quite annoying with all this, “when will you, when will you, when will you?” Sometimes we have to be annoying when the topic is important to us.

by Dwayne Phillips

One of the ultimate compliments at work is, “We’ll do fine without you.” If you want to be indispensable, do a really bad job.

It may seem backwards, but we can do without our best employees. Of course, this all depends on the definition we use for “best” and “good.”

Our best employees let everyone know what they are doing. Their work is made visible and is easy to find. They have no “secret ingredients.” Why would they have a secret ingredient. Someone is paying them for their ingredients. That someone owns the ingredients, not the employee.

Our worst employees hide what they are doing. They have magic numbers and secret brews bubbling in a big black cauldron in the dungeon. No one goes near for fear of all those things that lurk in dungeons near big black cauldrons. Indispensable employees are doing a bad job. They produce work, take a paycheck, but no one else can reproduce their work.

Our best employees can walk out the door with a smile on their face. We can pick up after them without missing a beat. We bid one another farewell with a personal loss, but a professional atmosphere of work. We will do fine without them. And the feeling is mutual.

by Dwayne Phillips

According to some arbitrary scheme, we are in the year two thousand and twenty. Let’s let it be.

My eight year old granddaughter told me that it was the year 20 20, “the year of perfect vision.” I can live with that as she is eight years old and was born with cataracts. She had two eye surgeries on each eye and knows more about those 20-whatever measures than me.

The rest of the adults writing out there have no excuse.

We have been in the year two thousand twenty for about four weeks now. Let us quit all the twenty twenty puns and such. Enough already. Surely there is something else to write.

Thank you.

by Dwayne Phillips

In addition to hearing the message, pay attention to the meta-message.

A few years ago, I wrote here about stop listening—cautiously—and start teaching. This current post regards stop listening to the individual words; pay attention to the meta-message or the message about the message.

Someone comes to me with anger. They don’t like fill-in-the-blank. I can concentrate on fill-in-the-blank, or I can pay attention to something more important.

Anger. Where on the scale of “little energy” to “much energy” does anger fall? I would put it closer to much energy.

Much energy. Where on the scale of “not important” to “much important” does much energy fall? I would put it closer to much important.

Much important. Okay. Here we are. A person has come to me and told me what is much important to them. What is it? What is behind or underneath or surrounding their fill-in-the-blank?

Am I recoiling at their anger, i.e., listening to their words? Am I finding what is important to them, i.e., paying attention to the meta message?

There are times when I listen to their words. There are times when I also pay attention to the meta message. This isn’t easy, and no one ever said it would be.

by Dwayne Phillips

The person asking the questions drives the conversation. Take care when inviting such.

“Any questions?” asked many confident, but somewhat ignorant persons.

The person asking the questions drives the conversation.

“What about the color of the coffee cups?,” asked someone.

“Er, but I want to show you our new fill-in-the-blank,” replied the confident presenter.

“I care about my lunch break. What about the chairs in the lunch room?,” continued to questioner.

“Er, but, I was talking about…” replied the less confident presenter.

“And when will we a better brand of coffee?” continued the questions.

Silence from the despondent and now zero-confidence presenter.

The person asking the questions drives the conversation. Take care when inviting questions. The conversation may go in an undesired direction.

by Dwayne Phillips

Time is time. That is all. Equating time with something else is subjective and often prone to error.

Person A: We have been considering this for two years.

Person B: Sounds like an extremely complex subject to require that much thought. May I see the flow of logic through the myriad options and such?

Person A: (silence with a perplexed expression)

Person B: I mean two years of thought. Wow. The flow of logic and derivation much be extensive. Can I see your notes?

Person A: (continued silence and perplexity)

Person B: Surely you aren’t confusing time with thought? Perhaps you were mired in analysis paralysis or being indecisive. Those are common with groups of persons trying to make decisions.

Person A: Well, uh, there was a group of us thinking about this and…

Person B: Were any of your discussions repetitive? That is common without detailed notes, but given your experience you probably took good notes and moved from point to point in the next meeting and…

Person A: Well, maybe we repeated some things and didn’t use our time as good as we could, but you know.

Person B: Oh yes, I know how that is. Surely you used a facilitator to keep the discussions progressing and not circling.

Person A: Facilitator? Oh, well, uh, yes, umm, we took turns and you know.

Person B: Oh yes, I know how that is. But I’m glad that your group reached a conclusion and agreement.

Person A: Oh yes, yes. We are in complete agreement on this.

Person B: Then it would be easy for your group to pass the we-are-in-complete-agreement test. Right?

Person A: The what test?

Person B: I give every person in the group a sheet of paper and a pencil. Without talking or comparing notes in any way, each person writes one sentence that details what everyone agrees upon. We collect the papers, and they all say the same thing. Can we do this?

Person A: (silence with less than happy expression)

Time is time. Equating time with anything else (like thought) is fraught with peril.