Working Up

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

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Clarifying the Message (do we want to do that?)

April 29th, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips There is a risk to clarifying the message relative to an idea. We many learn that the idea is a bad one. I have an idea. I have a message. My message is fuzzy, not good. I want to clarify my message. Really? If my idea is a bad one, clarifying the […]

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Tags: Clarity · Communication · Ideas

We May Never See 2024

March 22nd, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Three years from now may never come. “I don’t want to be ‘locked into’ company A because company B may have a better offering in three years. We need to be able to shift to company B.”—a well-meaning advisor. In three years, the world may be different. Let’s remain agile. Let’s keep […]

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Tags: Agility · Clarity · Expectations · Planning

What is Complicated, the Thing or the Description of the Thing?

November 30th, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips It sure is hard to understand fill-in-the-blank. Or is it hard to understand what someone wrote about it? I recently experimented with Jekyll. Good grief! That’s complicated! I also experimented with Git and GitHub. Good grief! Those things are complicated! And then I read several textbooks on machine learning and convolutional neural […]

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Tags: Clarity · Learning · Simple · Teaching · Writing

The Delegated Task Test

November 2nd, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips When delegating a task to another person, clear communication is key. It is unfortunate that clear communication is also rare. Here is a simple test. Person A: Are you doing task such-and-such? Person B: Not myself. I delegated task such-and-such to Person C. Person A: Oh, good. Task such-and-such is intricate and […]

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Tags: Clarity · Communication · Testing · Work

The First Step

October 8th, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips The first step, if taken carefully, eliminates almost all other directions from consideration and frees the mind for everything else. I’ve read about trackers, i.e., those persons who are assigned to find someone who is lost. They find people lost in the woods. The most important thing the tracker does is to […]

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Tags: Clarity · Leadership · Management · Planning

Sipping from a Fire Hose (or We are too Lazy to do Our Jobs)

April 6th, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips The new boss arrives. Everyone tells her what they are doing all at once in great detail. The new boss is “sipping from the fire hose.” I heard this “sipping from the fire hose” phrase a thousand times in my career. The new boss arrives. She is inundated with details during the […]

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Tags: Accountability · Clarity · Work

Certainty, Doubt, and Arguing with Myself

July 1st, 2019 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Some matters are certain in my mind. Others are a bit fuzzy behind a veil of doubt and cause me to argue with myself. There are times for both situations. Some things are fuzzy in my mind. I am not certain about them. I have to argue with myself. I start a […]

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Tags: Clarity · Conversation · Questions · Thinking

Weinberg Golf and Bundy Fishing

March 7th, 2019 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Perhaps we can find enjoyment anywhere at any time. It is worth the attempt. Several years ago I had several conversations with the late Jerry Weinberg, one of the best computing consultants we ever had. Jerry told me about how he played golf. Jerry started playing the game most familiar to everyone. […]

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Tags: Authentic · Clarity · Conversation · Fun · Ideas

Don’t Try Too Hard

December 13th, 2018 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Some of the best advice I ever heard and heeded is simply, “Don’t try too hard.” Writing. Studying. Researching. Don’t try too hard. Writing: let it come out of you. When you hit a difficult spot, type “this is a difficult spot, come back later.” Done. Now keep banging away on the […]

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Tags: Breathe · Clarity · Consulting · General Systems Thinking

Brevity and Clarity

August 27th, 2018 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Brevity and clarity are apt companions. The trouble is, they aren’t frequent companions.

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Tags: Brevity · Clarity · Communication · Writing