by Dwayne Phillips This is an old saying told to me many, many years ago. It is true today more than ever. Recent “reports” tell me that some Federal agencies are arresting folks who are merely trying to help their neighbors. And I hear of nice folks pointing guns at other Americans who are temporary […]
Half of What You See, None of What You Hear
December 2nd, 2024 · No Comments
Tags: Choose · Clarity · Expectations · General Systems Thinking · Information · Learning · Listening
The Event and the Reaction
November 4th, 2024 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Tomorrow is our national election day. As with almost everything, it is not the event, it is the reaction. A little research shows that I have written on this topic several times. I do so again as I think it is important. Tomorrow is our national election day in America. Millions of […]
Tags: America · Choose · Ethics · Event · Reaction · Thinking
How Simple Can You Be?
September 19th, 2024 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips This is a question we should constantly ask. Try the simplest thing to be, to do, to have. Several years ago, I posed a question to participants at a conference session I was facilitating. The design problem was about storing information from a business. I wanted a design of a system that […]
Tags: Choose · Design · Learning · Problems · Simple · Solutions
Let the Marketplace Decide
July 22nd, 2024 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Let’s stop hyperventilating about this and that AI thing. The marketplace will decide and with more wisdom than myself. I just read yet another article about yet another artificial super-duper large language model. How can a model of something be larger than the something? Isn’t a model a smaller representation of something? […]
Tags: Choose · Decide · Design · Error · General Systems Thinking · Systems
Choosing the Problem
July 11th, 2024 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips For those who have the resources to choose the problems for those who can solve them, please, choose wisely. Smart scientists, engineers, and problem solvers abound. Well, maybe not abound, but given the population of the earth, there are millions of these folks. What problems are they trying to solve? Rocket engines? […]
Tags: Choose · Problems · Requirements · Resources · Solutions
Time to Write
May 16th, 2024 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Many people struggle to find that elusive “time to write.” Others struggle to find to do anything else but write. Some people try in vain to find that elusive “time to write.” Something else is always in the way. This happens; that happens, and the time to write is not there. Fatigue […]
Tags: Choose · Communication · Concepts · Reading · Time · Writing
Where I Come From, We…
May 13th, 2024 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips It is easy to use my past as a reason for my behavior. It’s just an excuse. Put it and all other excuses behind and be here and now and better. “You have to understand” (when we hear those words, run and hide quickly) I could keep this list going for a […]
Tags: Accountability · Choose · Excuses · Expectations · Growth · History · Improvement · Influence · Learning
Which Part Do I Write Now?
May 2nd, 2024 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips I have to write all the parts to have a whole. But the parts that comprise the whole will probably change. I am facing a big writing project (“big” of course is subjective). I have divided the whole big project into parts. Now, write each part, check off the parts in the […]
Tags: Adapting · Choose · Work · Writing
Big Government Overshadowed by Industry
April 25th, 2024 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips You think the US government is big and spends lots of money? It is now overshadowed by industry—especially in computing. I was an employee of the US Federal government for 28 years. We did big things in computing that cost big dollars. I once worked in a lab where we had four […]
Tags: Artificial Intelligence · Choose · Government · History · Technology
Intentional: A Word Without Meaning
April 4th, 2024 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips To be intentional is to do something that you intended to do. I guess that is better than doing something accidentally or unintentionally. Yet, it has no meaning. To be intentional is to do something that you intended to do. It is to do something on purpose. Eating is intentional. I eat […]
Tags: Choose · Communication · Decide · Ideas · Purpose · Reframe