Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips Some people don’t know what they want until they see it. This can be agonizing for those of us who decide what we want and then do it. There is a way for the two of us to work together. The conversation usually proceeds like this: Me: You tell me what you […]

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by Dwayne Phillips A recent peek into the world of grad students in engineering and related fields reveals a group of people with a strong desire to work for the benefit of others. I have been working with grad students on writing. This took many months to arrange, but for the past couple of weeks […]

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by Dwayne Phillips The title of this post is a telephone number – the way we used to say telephone numbers. Much has changed in telephones, and much of the change is for the better. Still, we have lost a lot of our culture about telephones. The title of this post is a phone number. […]

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by Dwayne Phillips The FCC released its National Broadband Plan this week. Sigh, where do I start with this thing? The Front Cover The PDF version that I downloaded from broadband.gov has no date on the cover. Does anyone at the FCC understand configuration management? Silly question. Go to the first line of the Preface: […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Design reviews can be important parts of projects. At design reviews, we attempt to communicate clearly and minimize misunderstandings. There are several design reviews that are important to the success of a project. This essay describes one design review that people want to have but should never be allowed. We have design […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Building systems, managing efforts, raising kids – these and many other worthwhile endeavors can be difficult. I see no good in attempting to make those things sounds easier than they are. The reframe discussed here changes the description of tasks to be attempted. We will just… I don’t know how many times […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Estimating budgets months and years into the future is difficult. I have yet to meet anyone who does it well enough to risk large amounts of anything valuable. The Excel spreadsheet calculates well enough, but it can provide a false sense of precision. Instead, I use a slide rule. The difficulty of […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Written rules and regulations restrict us. They also allow us to forget about some hazards and concentrate freely on the problem at hand. Restrictions can permit freedom. The trick is to learn where the areas of freedom exist and how to use them. A colleague was contrasting the type of people who […]

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by Dwayne Phillips In a common usage, the word “but” erases all that has been said previously. This is a writing nicety. It is also a bad way to confuse conversation in the workplace. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but you need to check with me on things like this. Quick, without looking back, […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Knowledge comes with age. Older colleagues don’t need to be taught some things that younger ones do. There are, however, times when you want older colleagues to attend events that are not necessary for them. Explaining the reasoning makes attendance easier. I’m in my 50s. I know much more than people in […]

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