by Dwayne Phillips A simple equation provides some insight into how culture must change with the number of people in the group. Years ago, the late author and consultant Jerry Weinberg told me of a little equation he used to note the shifts in culture in groups of people. The equation is 3N. If that […]
Culture and Size
March 30th, 2023 · No Comments
Tags: Adults · Culture · Meetings · Work
We Have That Information (Tucked Away Somewhere)
January 30th, 2023 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips We know the answers. We have the information. Can we access it? More importantly, can you access it? We have the data silo. Some call it the data stovepipe. Some call it the sandbox. Others call it job (in)security. Enough of the metaphors and cliches. We have the information. I can find […]
Tags: Accountability · Adults · Information · Knowledge · Security
Little Hand Prints on the Glass Door
December 22nd, 2022 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Let’s step aside from the usual thoughtful post and muse a bit a few days before Christmas. Sitting in Starbucks as I write these posts, I sometimes see small children pushing open the glass door as they exit. They are as excited when they exit as when they entered. Starbucks has a […]
Tags: Adults · Childhood · Starbucks
Another Silly Silence Agreement
April 4th, 2022 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips We seem to create silly rules about silence. This is another one of those, “What happens here stays here.” We create silly rules about silence. I wrote about one earlier in this blog, “Silence is agreement.” Nonsense. Another that just came to mind is, “What is said here stays here.” That permits […]
Tags: Accountability · Adults · Agreement · Meetings · Talk
The Reading of the PowerPoint
January 10th, 2022 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips As crazy as it sounds, high-level, recognized expert, professionals still read their PowerPoint to the audience. I watch a lot of presentations. Not just a weekly briefing by someone who has relatively little experience on the job and making presentations. I watch presentations of research work. The presenters are experts, have years […]
Tags: Adults · Change · Communication · Expertise · Reading
Okay, Write Those Words
December 20th, 2021 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips For some reason, we often run away from the words that we want most to convey. I work with persons who are trying to write. They show me their draft, we talk, we walk through the words, and I ask questions. The questions usually lead to grimaces and twisted expressions, struggled breathing, […]
Tags: Adults · Brevity · Clarity · Communication · Word · Writing
Rules We Cannot Enforce
October 14th, 2021 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips We make rules. Why? Sometimes it is petty and to serve our ego. Pause and think (two pretty good rules about rules). We make a rule for or over or against the persons we know or our work colleagues. We cannot enforce that rule over all the persons who are supposed to […]
Tags: Adults · Purpose · Respect · Trust · Work
Our Reaction to…
May 20th, 2021 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Once again, its not the event, its our reaction to the event. Here is an exercise in reading news headlines. Read the headlines (these are paraphrased from the Washington Post on one day): Virus tied to increased risk of neurological and psychiatric illness The pandemic has caused parents to slow down Expanding […]
Tags: Adults · Alternatives · Choose · Management · Reaction · Reframe
The View from the Inside
May 17th, 2021 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Candid comments from someone on the inside. It can be ugly in here. For a while, I worked on a project where I would teach persons how to use the software that was produced. We had good intentions. When the software worked as advertised and taught, it allowed the users to do […]
Tags: Adults · General Systems Thinking · Humility · Mistakes
Internet Discussion Chaos and Semi-Public Groups
April 1st, 2021 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Where will we go for discourse on the Internet? Semi-public groups for forums work. I like Seth Godin’s recent short essay on trust and how folks use the Internet. Godin described the early (1970s) online interaction as, “Because each of these groups were high-trust communities, it was easy to conclude that the […]
Tags: Adults · Conversation · Ideas · Internet · Respect · Talk · Trust · Vocabulary