by Dwayne Phillips
Sometimes some persons should not be in the room during discussions.
You may stay in the room if you like. It is obvious from your reaction that this is all above your head. Please keep quiet.
Learning is permitted, but interruption is discouraged.
This is harsh. Sometimes it is necessary. Greater learning can take place afterwards.
There is a time for learning; there is a time for work. Sometimes the intersection of the two is the null set.
→ No CommentsTags: Adults · Learning · Work
by Dwayne Phillips
I take a first attempt at explaining a different concept of leadership. The potential follower sees good in the life of another person. What are you doing that brings that? I want to do that as well.
There are many models, concepts, and explanations of leadership. A few are:
Leadership by Example: See what I am doing? Do as I do.
Leadership by Walking Around: I see what you are doing. I encourage what I see as good.
Now, let’s try this one. At this time I will call it Leadership by Observed Benefit.
I see another person experiencing a good life in one aspect or another. Perhaps they are joyously, not happily but joyously, married. That is the observed benefit. I ask the person what he does to have such a joyous marriage. The person tells me. I start practicing that. Hence, I am following the person’s practices. The person is practicing leadership.
This is different from attending a seminar where a person tells me all the things I should do to have a joyous marriage. During the day or hour of a seminar, I do not observe the joyous marriage of the person.
This is drastically different from a person chiding me with the precepts of a joyous marriage. “Do this or else…”
Here is one example of leadership from observed benefit from my life. For a few years I had the privilege of attending seminars and conferences held and attended by the late consultant and author Jerry Weinberg.
Weinberg was remarkably good at (among other things) analyzing a system, understanding it, and recommending improvements (the observed benefit). In one way or another over time, I asked him what he did that made him so good at that. One thing he practiced was journaling (google that word for a few million posts about how to do it and why it is a good practice). I had not heard of that practice. When I looked into it, I didn’t like it. Nevertheless, here was a person who could do something I wanted to do. That person practiced journaling and stated that it greatly helped him do what I wanted to do.
I wanted the observed benefit bad enough to swallow and do what the other person did.
I followed the other person’s walk to the benefit—leadership.
This example has worked for me. I may not be remarkably good at systems analysis, but I am remarkably better than I was.
Notice that Weinberg did not sit in front of a seminar and write in a journal (leadership by example). Weinberg did not walk around the room while attendees were attempting systems analysis and nod approval at those who were doing a form of journaling (leadership by walking around). Weinberg did not lecture on the benefits of journaling (if you pulled him aside and asked, he would give some examples). And Weinberg certainly did not chide or “guilt” others into journaling.
Also notice that journaling is not directly part of systems analysis. It is a practice that indirectly leads to better systems analysis. That is another key part of this concept. There are things, often hidden, that the leader practices to lead to the observed benefit.
I could give other examples of how I observed benefit in others, learned something they did, and practiced it myself. I could give many more examples of lecturing, chiding, and other things that chased persons from otherwise good practices. Too bad that the bad examples outnumber the good, but that has been my experience.
Perhaps as time passes this concept will take better form and description.
→ No CommentsTags: Following · Leadership · Practice
by Dwayne Phillips
If something is really bad, it is probably broken, not just really bad. Remedies are available.
I once knew a person at work who hated vegetables. He knew, however, that he should eat some now and then because, as everyone will tell you, vegetables “are good for you.” So, one day he brought in some vegetables in a container for lunch. He heated them in the microwave and proceeded to eat them.
Everyone else in the office could tell that the vegetables in the container were rotten. The odor was awful. He, however, hating the taste of any vegetable concluded that these really bad tasting vegetables were just…you know, vegetables that were awful. It never occurred to him that the vegetables were broken.
Years ago, I was involved in comparing several pieces of software to see which would work best for us. Some of the software performed, well, really bad. It took minutes to type a sentence. Minutes to save a one-paragraph document. On and on, just really bad.
In both cases—the vegetables and the software under test—the system was really bad because it was broken. There was a reason why it was really bad, and it could be corrected so that it was, well, not so really bad anymore.
Most systems are produced by pretty smart persons. Those systems aren’t really bad. They may not be as good as some other systems, but really bad is rare. In most cases, really bad means something is broken. It can be remedied so that the system is no longer really bad.
Consider the repair before judging.
→ No CommentsTags: Error · Expectations · Failure · General Systems Thinking · Systems
by Dwayne Phillips
We need to have the definition. Otherwise, we don’t know what we are doing.
In agile development, we value working software over documentation.
Great. Now…still…we need a definition of the software. Something that says, push this button this happens. Push that button that happens.
We, however, don’t have time to write that stuff. If you want to know what happens when you push this button, go push it and observe. It will be apparent.
Sure, for simple things that is fine. Are you building simple things? If you are, introduce me to your customer because I would love to build simple things instead of what I am doing now.
The rest of us still need a definition of the software.
→ No CommentsTags: Agility · Communication · Simple · Systems
by Dwayne Phillips
Everything happens for a reason (or two) or perhaps things happen and we create reasons to explain them.
Funny how we often work backwards. Something happens and we proclaim, “I knew it would happen. We had this and that and they are reasons for what happened.” Few say these reasons before the happening.
We are pretty good at creating reasons after things happen. There are worse thing we can do with our time and our brains. Find an explanation to prevent or encourage the event—that can be a worthwhile exercise.
Finding reasoning before happenings is a bit more difficult. That is called “predicting the future,” and few of us are any good at such. Still, many of us are called to do it.
At this point in the blog post, the reader may be expecting the writer, a.k.a., me, to list tips on how to predict the future well or at least better. Sorry dear reader, I could make up some stuff, but that would only be putting reasoning after happening, and we have enough of that.
Here is a prediction of the future: I won’t be any better at predicting the future than I have been for the last 40 years.
There you have it. Chisel that one in stone and check back with me in a decade or two.
→ No CommentsTags: Estimation · Excuses · Failure · Reaction · Review
by Dwayne Phillips
Resting, i.e., goofing off, is often a necessary zero-th step in concentrated work.
Many years ago, a baseball player was asked about his team bad first week of the season. Is answer was something like, “We were backing up so we could have a running start.”
I can (1) work all day at a mediocre level of effort and concentration. I can (2) work most of the day at a high level of concentration and productivity. I cannot (3) work all day at a high level of concentration and productivity. Try as I might, number (3) just doesn’t happen any more. It probably never happened in my life.
I have to back up before running full speed.
Such “backing up” looks like different things to different persons. To most, it looks like I am “goofing off.” (Why do we use all these phrases that end with prepositions?) Sometimes it even looks remarkably like taking a nap at my desk.
Such rest precedes concentrated work resulting in high-quality products. I wish I could do (3) above. I have searched for years for the magic formula that yields it. Sorry. Haven’t found it yet. I guess I will settle for (2). Time to back up and rest before the next run.
→ No CommentsTags: Rest · Work
by Dwayne Phillips
There are always alternatives. We, however, don’t always admit and use this. Pity us and our results.
Person A: This is the situation, this is what we are going to do.
Person B: Interesting. What alternatives did you consider?
Person A: Well, lots of them.
Person B: Interesting. What alternatives did you consider?
Person A: I just told you, lots of them.
Person B: Interesting. What alternatives did you consider?
Person A: Well, you know, we didn’t keep track of everything. We have a free-flowing, fast-paced style of work here and don’t have time for all that stuff.
Person B: Interesting. What alternatives did you consider?
Person A: Look, I’ve told you. We considered lots of things. We are a group of hard-working, smart people. We know what we are doing.
Person B: I am happy to learn of you unquestionable expertise. Interesting. What alternatives did you consider?
Person A: Hey! It’s over. We decided. Get with it. Stop trying to rehash old things.
Person B: Interesting. What alternatives did you consider?
→ No CommentsTags: Alternatives · Choose · Decide
by Dwayne Phillips
Fatigue still wins. Every endeavor requires energy to the end. Every step receives the same resources.
In any endeavor, we must exert the same energy to every step. Starting fast and waning with fatigue will not suffice.
For example, in writing, I should apply the same full energy to…
Less is … less. Rats.
→ No CommentsTags: Commitment · Energy · Improvement
by Dwayne Phillips
Regardless of how earnest and sincere the persons, being misinformed at Step 0 dooms any endeavor.
Step 0 is the beginning. Some call it the foundation upon which all things are built. It is important.
In my experience, regardless of how earnest and sincere any person(s) may be, if they are misinformed at Step 0, it just doesn’t matter.
This brings to mind a comedian from decades past who would rant and rave about a topic, then be interrupted and informed about Step 0, then would end with, “Oh, never mind.”
Examples,
I could continue for a long while. I trust these are sufficient. Notice how many of these Step 0 statements involve us and other persons. It may be disappointing to learn that we laid the foundation no matter how shaky it may be.
→ No CommentsTags: Mistakes · People · Risk
by Dwayne Phillips
Technology enables us to fake photos and videos. We can make anyone appear to say and do anything. Preventing such is quite simple.
A few months back, I wrote about preventing harm from deep fake videos. That advice was to live in such a way that I could say, “You know me. You know I wouldn’t say or do that.”
Here is another way of life that prevents harm from deep fakes. This one is almost opposite of the first:
In the Satir Model of coping (see link above), this carries the concept of laugh at everything, contradict yourself constantly, shift and bend and laugh and roll along.
Response to the deep fake video: You know me. You can’t take anything I say or do seriously. Come one, let’s go shopping or bowling or something. Ha ha ha giggle giggle giggle.
The deep fake video rolls off because everything rolls off the irrelevant person. Not recommended as much as the first prevention, but it works.
→ No CommentsTags: Excuses · Expectations · Fun