Working Up

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

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The Bad Thing about TED Talks

March 11th, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Every now and then, someone shows how well you can do something. In rare situations, everyone else improves. Most of the time, however, not so much. I like to watch TED talks. They are so goooooood. Twenty minutes. Every sentence full of content. Just enough visuals, but not too many. Relevant topics. […]

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Tags: Communication · Expectations · Expertise · Improvement · Leadership

Let Me Explain Myself, Then I Might Understand Myself

March 1st, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips There is much good in the act of sitting down with another person and explaining to them what I think I am doing. It isn’t always easy to explain to another person what I am about to do. It is, however, a good use of time. That act usually shows me what […]

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Tags: Communication · Concepts · Ideas · Talk · Visibility

We Know More Now, So…

February 25th, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips The pandemic has its own phrase for the use of bad or junk science and poor thought and communication. It’s in the “news” almost everyday now. I feel it came about from the pandemic, but there are other excuses we can use. It is that phrase in the title, We know more […]

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Tags: Communication · Ethics · Science · Thinking

Figuratively and Literally

February 4th, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips We often use a “figure of speech” to describe something. Well, that’s nice, but I know that such-and-such cannot literally do something-or-other. Can we please have some literal descriptions? I have recently been reading constantly about a very popular software app. I won’t mention which one because that would take us off […]

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Tags: Communication · Fairy Tales · Technology · Work · 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 Authority Thermocline

October 1st, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips If I work directly for you, I will do as you say. If, however, your are three or four levels distant, meh. A number of years ago I wrote about the information thermocline. Bureaucracies tend to reduce the flow of information as it attempts to pass from the top to the bottom. […]

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Tags: Authentic · Communication · Management · Work

Thinking Out Loud

September 17th, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Some persons “think out loud.” This is okay only when done properly. Some persons “think out loud.” They state a list of ideas quickly. This is a rough draft spoken instead of jotted on paper. The ideas are only partially formed and should be worked and reworked until they make sense. That […]

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Tags: Communication · Context · Thinking · Uncategorized

Silence is Complicity (not)

September 14th, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips We have another variation of the “silence is agreement” notion. Let’s refute that notion—again. Looking back through this blog, it appears that I have written about this topic every four years. Once in 2012, once in 2016, so I guess it is time again. This time around “silence is complicity” is being […]

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Tags: Appearances · Communication · Conversation · Justice · Respect · Thinking

Name Dropping and Other Follies of (Mis)Communicating

August 31st, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Please talk concepts, name product names. There used to be comedy routines back in the 1970s (yes, I am that old) that made fun of daytime soap operas. (For you younger folks, don’t worry, you didn’t miss anything as almost everything on television these days is a soap opera.) Anyways, the comedians […]

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Tags: Communication · Concepts

The History of Software Development, the Waterfall Revisited

August 27th, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips An old person, who was around in the 1970s, looks back at the Waterfall process of software development. The waterfall process. Of course the pure waterfall doesn’t work, that is why competent persons never used it. Go way back when and realize that graphics programs (Paint, Draw, Misio) weren’t available. It was […]

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Tags: Alternatives · Communication · Management · Software