Working Up

Working Up in Project Management, Systems Engineering, Technology, and Writing

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Whatcha’ doin’?

April 10th, 2025 · No Comments

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. […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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, […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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Tags: Accountability · Adults · Authentic · Communication · Trust