Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips One of the more difficult tasks is reviewing something written by someone else and providing feedback that will help both the writer and the reader. Here are some things I learned from Jerry Weinberg. In 2004, I attended a writing workshop led by author and consultant Jerry Weinberg. A large part of […]

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by Dwayne Phillips How specific should a system specification be? How many resources should the spec consume? I propose a measure to help answer these questions – the Return on Specification Investment. A few years ago, I was reviewing a specification for a system that someone in the office had written. I came to one […]

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by Dwayne Phillips This one has been buzzing around in my head for a few years. What do you call it when you are trying to write and you need to write words? Words on the page – doesn’t work until you run your printer. Words on the screen – that sort of works, but […]

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by Dwayne Phillips An old lesson holds true today: getting the tools and people to the job site is half the job. Twenty-five years ago, I was involved in a fence-building project. Members of the community gathered to start from scratch and erect a 50-meter-long fence. I was one of the first people there and […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Compliant meets the minimum requirements while compelling puts some excitement into a product. Still, I would be satisfied with compliance when it comes to dishwasher delivery and installation. I ran into the phrase that inspired the title of this post one day last week. We were writing a proposal for a contract. […]

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by Dwayne Phillips The MOI Model has one more part – the jiggle. Use it to restart the group when you hit the flat or descending part of the MOI curves. The MOI Model has three parts – motivation, organization, and information. Recent posts have discussed how more of these helps until we reach a […]

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by Dwayne Phillips In my industry job, I see people making phone calls to obtain answers to questions right now. I never say that in 28 years of government. Here are some thoughts on the practice. I worked in government for 28 years. I have since worked in private industry for two years. A current […]

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by Dwayne Phillips People use one set of postures for thinking. There are another set of postures that make it easy for other people to hear what you are saying when you are talking. Please try to switch postures when thinking and then talking. This request is especially strong when in meeting with other people. […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Three questions I use as a basic framework for writing. One of the questions that people ask me about writing is: Where do you start? When asking this, they are seeking a basic framework, a place to start when they have a blank piece of paper and need to write something on […]

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by Dwayne Phillips After writing about how to do something, apply a reality check. I write a lot. I have written several books that explain how to do things like manage projects and other human endeavors. There are lots of nice, neat formulas and techniques that I describe in the books. Towards the end of […]

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