Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

I write this one with some hesitancy as there is always something to be learned by continually listening. Sometimes, however, listen for meta messages, not the message as the messenger is clearly confused.

Sometimes the best thing to do is stop listening—for now. And also, don’t waste time and energy wondering about what the message the messenger is sending. I hesitate with this advice.

I encourage listening; what’s more, I encourage noticing, i.e., using all the senses when receiving messages.

Often, however, the message is, “I don’t know what I am saying or writing.”

The better response is learning and teaching. Learning what the messenger desires to say or write and teaching them what to say and how to say it.

This learning and teaching requires a closer conversation. If that closer conversation is not yet available, wait until it is. Stop listening, for now, and don’t waste and time or energy wondering what the person is trying to say. In my experience, my wondering will be incredibly wrong—so wrong that it hinders my understanding of the true message.

by Dwayne Phillips

We all like to have something we can call our own. We like to work on something and say, “I did that!” We have to decide if one of us is smarter than all of us.

In Agile Development, somehow the team meets and decides on a new feature or fix for the system under consideration. Now we decide: who will work on that new feature? One of the choices is assign (a) the team or (b) one person.

When we choose (b) one person, we are creating the one-person silo or one-person stovepipe or whatever cliche you like to use. The one person contemplates, designs, builds, names, tests, and integrates the new feature. Someone else may do some other testing, but one person does 90% of the work.

When we choose (a) the team, several persons participate in all the steps.

(a) The team is not a popular choice. We all like to have something to call our own. I want to work on this by myself. I have a unique insight into this. I can do it! Those are all correct statements. Are they, however, the better statements? Is it better to say, “Each member of the team has unique insights to contribute?” And, “The team can do it!”

I guess we have to decide question zero: Who is smarter, me or everyone (including me)?

This is not one of those inspirational posters about synergy. And it isn’t one of those posters that poke fun at those inspirational posters (Synergy—all of us are dumber than each of us).

I don’t want to be bogged down by all those other people asking questions and offering suggestions. I want to just do it!

Fine, Mr; Genius. Go home after my paycheck-earning work. Do something at home by myself that I can call all my own. Perhaps that at-home, I-did-it-all-by-myself system will be better than anything the team did at that paycheck-earning job. Good for me.

But for now, while I am at that paycheck-earning job at work, I’ll just have to humor the rest of the team and let them work with me. Who knows, maybe I will learn something.

by Dwayne Phillips

Often it is not the thought that counts but the second thought that really counts.

I got a great idea! Wow! Here we go.

Two days later…well, that wasn’t such a great idea. It was a good idea, but after a good meal, a bit of exercise, some time doing something completely different, and some rest…I have a much better idea.

I guess there is something about the subconscious mind working all the time or maybe it is problem solving while sleeping or dreaming or maybe something to do with how the digestive system bone connects to the head bone. Perhaps some one will explain this some day, but that would ruin all the fun.

This seems to have happened to me a lot of times in life. I think it would have happened a lot more if I had allowed it to.

In writing,

it isn’t the writing but the editing that counts.

In thinking, perhaps

it isn’t the thought but the second thought that counts.

by Dwayne Phillips

The recent rash of misuse and abuse of social media reminds us of that old, boring practice called systems engineering and limiting systems to do only what they are supposed to do.

Recent news reports point to all sorts of “misuse” and “abuse” of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. These companies, as well as Google, just had their top lawyers sit in front of our elected representatives’ lawyers to discuss things that top lawyers discuss.

It seems that some people used these social media outlets to push their propaganda on folks. Little credit is given to folks to discern anything about propaganda. Let’s not delve into the subject of elected representatives having a dim view of the persons who elected them. That is for another day…

Facebook was created so that friends could stay in contact and communicate. Cool. I like that. I have found many of the persons who went to tiny Loranger High School the same time periods as myself. I keep in touch with many relatives who live a thousand miles away. This is great. Facebook fulfills its purpose.

Facebook also has capabilities that perhaps were not intended. (see my post on Unintended Capabilities). Persons have exploited those. For example, Facebook Live allows me to show my adorable grand kids roasting marshmallows live to relatives far away who would love to see that. That is an intended capability. Works great. Persons can, however, use Facebook Live to broadcast “I HATE MY NEIGHBOR” to the world for free $0. That is an unintended capability.

Enter good old, bad old, neglected in the post-modern world practice of systems engineering (SE). When practicing SE, a system will do everything it is intended to do (all requirements are built, tested, integrated, and delivered). Also when practicing SE, a system will not do anything it is not intended to do. Only the requirements are implemented AND functions are in the system to prevent other capabilities from being capable.

It is obvious that Facebook, Inc. did not use SE. If they had, you wouldn’t be able to stand in front of the world and spend $0 to yell, “I HATE MY NEIGHBOR” to the entire world. That was not a requirement. Something in the system should not implement that. My guess is the folks at Facebook knew how to prevent that unintended capability, but didn’t want to spend the money on it.

Gosh, isn’t it great that they saved that money?

Systems engineering pays for itself.

by Dwayne Phillips

Regardless of the size and scope of an organization, we all have to opportunity to learn from and pass along learnings to the few persons we meet each day. Naive? Perhaps, but worth a try.

I currently work for an organization that has over 100,000 persons in it. Of course that size and scope is too large for anyone to manage effectively. Of course there is duplication and ignorance and all sorts of inefficiencies everywhere. And I am happy that I am not “at the top” trying to fix this.

So now what?

Back to basics. I meet a few persons face-to-face on any given day. I have the opportunity to influence those in a positive manner. And, what is more important, I have the opportunity to learn from each of those persons.

One of the best things I can pass along is the previous paragraph. I think this is one way to create a learning and influencing organization—even one that has over 100,000 persons. Who needs to be “at the top.”

by Dwayne Phillips

Some of us don’t want to stretch things at work. Stretching can create tension, and tension is, well, tense. It is okay. Go ahead and do it.

I wish I remember where I was when I first heard or read the statement,

You don’t need permission to do your job well.

I am pretty sure it came from Larry Constantine. (Google search on, you don’t need permission to do your job well Larry Constantine, as it reveals a number of places that Constantine wrote it and others qouted him).

Some people (used to) call this “guerilla tactics” at work. We know we could do better if we had someone’s permission to make changes. No one wants to commit to change. So, just do it anyway, because we don’t need permission…and so on.

I have been trying this for several decades. It usually works—no guarantees, but it usually works. Just do it.

Something that helps me: “If those people who are authorized to authorize changes in what I do were to understand what I understand, they would authorize me to try…” And then I try it. I don’t tell anyone about what I am doing differently. Perhaps someone will notice the different work product, but probably not.

A key to having this change spread is that people have to see that I am happier at work.

When they ask, “Why are you happier?” I have an answer.

If I am not happier at work by doing things differently, why did I do them differently?

Rats, it all comes back to me. This is tougher than I thought.

by Dwayne Phillips

Great ideas are all about us. We just have to notice. Sometimes we have to assign someone to be the notice-er.

There is something I have noticed about great ideas, i.e., the ideas that make our days better and make it easier to sleep at night:

Great ideas come from unexpected places at unexpected times.

Something else I have noticed about great ideas:

Great ideas are all about us, i.e., there is no shortage of great ideas.

My task as a project manager, i.e., someone who needs great ideas:

Keep your senses active so that you can notice and use great ideas.

Sometimes I am too busy or simply too weary to notice the great ideas. Now what? Try this one:

It is probably worthwhile to have someone on a large project who has no assigned duty other than to wander around and notice things.

I can be happier in my life. I can sleep better at night. All I have to do is just let the great of other ideas make these things so.

by Dwayne Phillips

We can’t do this, too. Why not? Let’s do one thing each day that moves us towards that.

This is the kind of thing that Seth Godin writes. I don’t write this kind of thing.

And why not?

• I don’t know how to do it
• I’d be stealing from him
• It isn’t my style or personality
• People will read it from him, not me
• Further excuses withheld to save space

And, I don’t know how to make that leap.

And who says I have to make a leap. Do one thing each day that moves me towards that thing. We can all do one thing each day that moves us towards that thing. Just one thing. That’s what it takes. So, it is time for me to erase my excuses and do one thing, like these 140 words.

by Dwayne Phillips

An old technique that always surfaces confusion and moves us towards clarity.

Me: Let’s draw a picture of this so I can understand it better.

Person A: We don’t need to waste time with that. We all know what it is.

…a little while later…

Person A: See, we set it up like this (writing on the wall).

Person B: No, it’s more like that (scratching out and writing something different).

Person A: No it’s not, why…

Person C: Yeah, Person B is right. We changed that last week. Didn’t you get the note on that?

Person A: Change? Last week? What change?

Person B: You know (even though Person A just admitted ignorance). And this other thing isn’t quite like this, either. It’s more like this here (writing new information on the wall).

Person A: Are you persons sure of this?

Person D: Of course. And then we have to add all this other stuff down here (drawing in a new section of the wall).

Person A: What is all that?

Person B: Yeah, what is that?

Person D: That’s what we did last year. Don’t you remember?

Person B: I wasn’t here last year. Why didn’t anyone tell me about that?

…and so it goes.

Am I smarter than all these other persons? No. I’ve just seen this happen a few dozen times before. Let’s draw a picture. Proceed with caution, but proceed.

by Dwayne Phillips

Here is a simple exercise you can use with your team to learn something about how well you work together.

Step 1: Get a deck of playing cards.

Step 2: Hand every person on your team some cards. Hand some person a couple of cards and hand some persons a dozen cards.

Step 3: Tell everyone they need X cards where X = 52 cards/number of persons in your team.

Now we have a situation where some persons have too many cards while some persons have too few cards. Sound like a familiar situation at work?

Step 4: Tell everyone to come to you when they all have X cards.

Step 5: Observe.

Step 6: When everyone has come to you with X cards, gather them and have a conversation.

Questions:

• How do you feel?
• How did you do this?
• How would you do it if you had to do it again?
• What did you learn?
• Who did you learn?
• What else do you want to say?

Why would anyone do this? To learn how your team works together and how they communicate. And how they shuffle the workload when some persons have too little to do and others have too much to do.