by Dwayne Phillips This is a simple, two-word question. It is fundamental if someone is paying for my time. What is all the fuss about? In the news recently, I find that a new advisor to a new executive asked all the employees to answer the basic question that is the title of this post. […]
Whatcha’ doin’?
April 10th, 2025 · No Comments
Tags: Accountability · Communication · Government · Management · Questions · Work
Good, Smart People
April 7th, 2025 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Want more efficient and more productive government? The solution is simple, but probably won’t be used. Once every now and then, someone comes along and tries to make government more efficient and more productive. Note: this means more efficient and more productive than it is now. This does not mean truly efficient […]
Tags: Accountability · America · Change · Competence · Ethics · Government · Improvement · Simple
Consultant Rule #1
March 20th, 2025 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips The first rule of consulting involves how much improvement a consultant can suggest at a time. Recent news highlights this rule and the peril caused by ignoring it. There is an unwritten rule among smart consultants that you only suggest things that improve a situation by about 10%—no more. If you suggest […]
Tags: Accountability · Consulting · Expectations · Government · Improvement · Management · Remember
Significant and Embarrassing Achievement
March 13th, 2025 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes some person has a significant achievement, but the resources weren’t approved, so it was all quite embarrassing. This is a true story that occurred in the last century. A person at work had a neighbor who worked at a different government agency. The other agency had a colossal failure with some […]
Tags: Accountability · Authentic · Chaos · Data Science · Emergency · Leadership · Work
Integrity and Intentions
February 24th, 2025 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Integrity is doing what you say you will do. Sometimes things happen that block intentions. This becomes tricky quickly. Day 1: We will release our information to you on day 15. Day 30: We intended to release our information to you on day 15, but, ya’ know, uh. We will release our […]
Tags: Accountability · Agreement · Event · Integrity · Trust · Word
Inconvenient Facts of Fact Checking
January 27th, 2025 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips A problem with fact checking is that people write so poorly these days we cannot find the facts in seemingly factual statements. Fact checking and the absence or removal of fact checking has been in the news recently. Some society media outlets have removed fact checking and such for something else called […]
Tags: Accountability · Clarity · Communication · Data Science · Error · Science · Writing
Not My Fault Either
January 6th, 2025 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes the better thing to do is accept whatever the situation and move to the next step. Person A: It’s not my fault. Person B: It’s not my fault, either. Person A: Whose fault is it? Person B: Let’s accept that it isn’t either one of our faults and move to the […]
Tags: Accountability · Alternatives · Choose · Decide · Thinking
Punctuality and Interviews
December 26th, 2024 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips There are many ways to show respect. One is simply to be one time for interviews and other meetings. I hope to be employed by an employers by the time this post is posted. I have interviewed with many people these last six months. Some folks are courteous and respectful. Some, well, […]
Tags: Accountability · Jobs · Meetings · Respect · Time
No More, “Maybe I Didn’t Remember Correctly”
September 12th, 2024 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Given histories on the Internet, the good news is that I can find the correct date and event. The bad news is, I no longer have the excuse that, “Maybe I didn’t remember correctly.” That is just lazy. I am making notes of my life for my children and grandchildren. The sort […]
Tags: Accountability · Childhood · Error · Event · Excuses · History · Internet · Research · Work
Hard Right, Easy Wrong
June 6th, 2024 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips I must have missed something in my life as the title of this post was very confusing the first time I heard it. I was being interviewed for a job. This was on the telephone. There were several people on the other end of the line. The principal interviewer asked me something […]
Tags: Accountability · Adults · Authentic · Communication · Trust