by Dwayne Phillips Start at the beginning and build from there. That sure is boring. That is the standard configuration. If, however, resources are scarce and the desire to accomplish new work is high, it is a good place to start. I recently restarted a new job. That is a long story for another day. […]
The Standard Configuration
May 23rd, 2022 · No Comments
Tags: Adapting · Baseline · Culture · Learning · Management · Process · Systems · Work
The Edge and the Center
May 9th, 2022 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips The edge is that area between the center of two places. Things are different at the edge. Try to remember the difference. I recently spent a few of strenuous days cleaning a fence row. A fence row comprises the ground a couple feet each side of a fence. In my case, the […]
Tags: Adapting · Context · Differences · Expectations · Learning · Notice · Observation
The Conversations Before the Meeting
April 25th, 2022 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips This discusses a technique that helps move “decision meetings” in a favorable direction. You spend time to save time. It works more often than not. I have been assigned the task of presenting an idea to a meeting of decision makers. Yes, many organizations still have groups of decision makers, and they […]
Tags: Adapting · Communication · Conversation · Decide · Ideas · Management · Meetings · Process
A Meat Grinder (time for a reframe)
March 17th, 2022 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips That job is a “meat grinder.” It has chewed up several people. Stay away. Or do we simply need to reframe the situation? While writing this, I have spent much of the past week(s) looking at the help wanted ads and talking to several companies about their job openings. Several of the […]
Tags: Adapting · Choose · Jobs · Learning · Reframe · Stories
Why fill-in-the-blank Projects Fail
February 3rd, 2022 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Special projects fail because they aren’t that special. We pretend or wish them to be so we can forego proven techniques and hard-learned lessons. We know why fill-in-the-blank projects fail. Let’s fill in the blank: Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning big data data lake non-profit whatever Of course these projects are different from […]
Tags: Adapting · Failure · Management · Process · Success
What is Different in this Situation?
November 15th, 2021 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips This is a variation on the question, “What is the difference that makes a difference?” When trying to modify behavior, we must be able to answer the title’s question. The title of this post is a fundamental science question. You are telling me that factor A is important here. Okay, it seems […]
Tags: Adapting · Change · Data Science · Decide · Information · Science
The Clipboard and the Pencil…and the Hurricane
November 1st, 2021 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Unfortunate events provide yet another great reason to use a clipboard and a pencil. My records indicate that this is the fourth blog post I have written about the clipboard and the pencil. The gist is that these old, simple tools are still quite valuable. Hence, we might reconsider a few other […]
Tags: Adapting · Emergency · Internet · Learning · Notebook · Simple · Technology · Tools
WDYWT?
October 15th, 2020 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips I find a little trick that helps me write something “for the record” each day. I write. I tell myself that every day. Most days that is true. Most days I will write something of some substance or “for the record.” I have worked from home for the past six months (almost […]
Tags: Adapting · Remote Work · Systems · Tools · Visibility · Writing
Who Will Really Benefit from Self-Driving Vehicles?
July 23rd, 2020 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Ah, my car will drive itself. I can rest, read, think about things. Really? Perhaps we aren’t comfortable with the answer to the question posed in the title. Who will really benefit from self-driving vehicles? Alcohol, canabis, and pharmaceutical industries. This includes restaurants and bars that serve these. The vehicle itself is […]
Tags: Adapting · Change · Technology
Research or Reminders
May 14th, 2020 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes research leads old guys to remember lessons from way back. Crisis helps us forget to our peril The other day at work, we were speaking with a thought leader in an area of technology. This person truly is an expert and a thought leader in the future of his area. The […]
Tags: Adapting · Learning · Software · Technical Debt