Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

You can’t win a vomiting contest with a buzzard. The attempt will be harmful, too.

Buzzards are professionals when it comes to vomiting. They practice it daily. I can’t beat them at it. You can’t beat them at it.

The trouble is, we think you can. We are educated, smart, capable, and adaptable. We can apply the best processes, measure, adapt, adjust, and beat the buzzards at their own game. We will innovate.

This will be fun. We will show everyone what we can do. No matter what it is, we can do it better. And it might be fun for a while to try it.

Then one day we realize that we have been at this vomiting game a little too long. And then we realize that, well, it isn’t good. We are sick. We have hurt ourselves.

And what’s more, even if we win, we are the best vomit-er on planet earth. Wow! What does that trophy look like, anyways?

by Dwayne Phillips

Some persons use items to abuse others. This has been occurring since, well since a long time. Is there an answer?

I found this to be an interesting article on tech’s guilt in how some persons abuse other persons. Should all Microsoft employees feel guilty because the name-your-worst-bad-person uses Word and Outlook? Maybe the inventor of the microprocessor should be labeled EVIL. Do we go back to the Difference Engine or the inventor of the abacus?

Some persons use sticks to abuse other persons. Who invented the stick? I mean that person needs to be punished or vilified or something because their invention has been misused for ages.

Yes, some persons use things to abuse other persons. And there are some persons who use the same items to help others. It is possible to use the same item for good and for ill.

Well, let’s put an end to this. Quit your job with name-the-company-you-currently-vilify. Form you own technology company. Create a great item that lots of people want. Do not sell any of your items to anyone without first performing a detailed investigation of the character of possible customers. Only sell to those who will do good.

No, I couldn’t actually do this either. Perhaps someone could, but I doubt it.

by Dwayne Phillips

This is the anniversary of our declaring independence to be a nation on our own. Let’s be thankful. We do much good here and around the world.

Sure, the current President…or what is the prior President or the one before that or the won several times back or…I get confused sometimes as to which President was sooooo baaaad…is not upholding the ideals of our country. Not to worry. This is America. An election is coming soon and someone else will be the temporary office holder. George Washington set the precedent of the wisdom of doing nothing.

So maybe for one day, let’s all shake one another’s hand and say something good. We are pretty good.

by Dwayne Phillips

The message to a person should be the same as the message about a person.

What I say to a person is the same as what I say about a person. At least it should be. In other words, I say the same thing when the person is in the room as when the person is not. Furthermore, I do it in a way that everyone knows it.

It is too easy to say, “If the person were here I would say the same thing to their face.”

Fine. If that is true, that person should be here, now, while I am talking. If that person is not here, I don’t talk about them. “But I have hired you to evaluate that person.” Fine, let’s find a way to do this right. Until we find a way to do it right, we won’t do it wrong.

Sometimes it is difficult to be an adult and a manager at the same time.

by Dwayne Phillips

Please don’t ask job seekers to do something for you. That is work that has monetary value. we all know what it is to give someone money before they do their job…bribery.

The recruiter or hiring manager asks, “Please write a one-page essay (short computer program, simple design, webpage for fictitious company, etc.) and submit it before the interview so we have something to discuss.”

That is a simple request. That is a good request. Let’s see your work. Let’s evaluate the merits of your work. No problem, right?

Well, producing this small piece of work will take my time, talent, and energy. Those are worth money. Hence, this small piece of work is worth money, maybe $100. “You are telling me that if I don’t give you $100, you will not interview me.”

“Oh, no, please don’t interpret it that way…”

“Well, how should I interpret it?”

Silence follows and all that. “This is what we always do. We never have anyone balk at this.”

Employers, work for free as a prerequisite to an interview or something is a BRIBE. Don’t ask for bribes.

“But how will we evaluate job seekers?” That is your situation, not mine. You have professionals who do this. Ask them.

by Dwayne Phillips

Employers often ask job seekers for stolen property. Please don’t do that.

It happens frequently. The employer’s recruiter or hiring manager asks the job seeker, “Can you show us some source code (proposals, web pages, white papers, designs, etc.) that you’ve done previously?”

That’s an innocent request. That’s a good request. Let’s see your work. Surely you have pride in your work. We hire on merits. Show us your merits.

One problem is that work done for a prior employer was created under the pay of that employer. That prior employer owns that work. Hence, if I gave it to you I would be giving you something owned by that prior employer. I er uh guess that would be stolen property. Are you in the habit of dealing in stolen property?

“Oh no no no,” is the reply. “We just want to see your work. Surely, you have designed the next-generation gadget in your spare time at home, right?” I reply, “Well, no I haven’t as I don’t have the $200K design package at home.”

Folks, when I am unemployed I am unemployed. I don’t have copies of work I did for a prior employer. That would be theft and make me a thief. Do you often hire thieves? And when I am unemployed I spend my time seeking employment. I don’t write software (proposals, books, designs, web pages) all day and put them on Github for your benefit.

Please understand intellectual property and who owns what. Please don’t ask me for stolen property.

by Dwayne Phillips

Customers don’t want long—or any—explanations. Simply tell the customer how we will make the situation right.

Another month, another bad experience with customer service. The details are not important. I paid for a service, the provider made a mess of things, I heard dozens of reasons why the situation went wrong. I don’t care about the internal workings of the provider. I only care about one thing:

make it right

I am a provider at work. I work to satisfy a customer 40 hours a week. I better do better.

Simple statements:

• We made a mess.
• This is wrong.
• Here is how we will make this right.

Simple statements. Why are they so hard to state?

by Dwayne Phillips

I like to improve. I find most persons like to improve. Let’s do better with less effort and less time. Pretty good goal, but how do we reach that without stomping on persons?

Process improvement. I like that. Lots of persons I know dislike it. Why? Don’t we all want to do more and better with less effort and time leaving us with more time and energy for other things?

I find that those persons who dislike improvement do so because they have been trampled in prior improvement efforts. Try these questions:

• What did we do then?
• What have we learned?
• What do we do now?

Try to ask in that order.

by Dwayne Phillips

When reviewing a thing, we use the same basic principles: Review the product, not the person. Praise the person, not the product.

We review products daily. No, not just writing a review of the iPhone or Instagram, but all the little “products” that take us from a concept to a final product. Here is an idea—that is a product that we review. Here is a test—that is a product that we review. Here is a sales pitch—that is a product that we review.

We use the same basic principles:

1. Review the product, not the person
2. Praise the person, not the product

It is easy to confuse these. Take care. We can always get another product. The same is not true for the person.

by Dwayne Phillips

The Sticky Note exemplifies the temporary idea. Nothing is a useful and, at the same time, as benign as a temporary idea.

I guess you aren’t supposed to write about Sticky Notes. They are temporary by nature.

Hmm, temporary. Temporary things seem to ease the fears of many even though these many don’t realize it.

It is easy to catch an idea. And because it is scribbled on a temporary little note, it is easy to throw such an idea forward. If it is a bad idea, and hey, we all have bad ideas, it won’t hurt too much because it didn’t cost much to catch and throw it.

People seem to accept and discuss temporary ideas. Ideas chiseled in stone, however, are not so acceptable. They can hurt and they won’t go away. This simple little friendly little Sticky Note, well, that one comes and goes and doesn’t hurt. Perhaps we’ll consider it a little more and, who knows, even use it.