Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips There are always alternatives. We, however, don’t always admit and use this. Pity us and our results. Person A: This is the situation, this is what we are going to do. Person B: Interesting. What alternatives did you consider? Person A: Well, lots of them. Person B: Interesting. What alternatives did you […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Deciding quickly can be a mistake. Deciding to delay deciding can be as well. I decide, quickly. That is my temperament. I have decided quickly and poorly on many occasions. I know many persons who decide slowly. That is their temperament. They often decide slowly and correctly. That is, if you only […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Nothing new here. Lack of planning still brings emergency responses and all sort of bad reactions. I suppose we have to be reminded of this from time to time. There are various ways to say it like: Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part or […]

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by Dwayne Phillips We often use a simple yet silly algorithm for ranking requirements. It is easy. I guess that is why we use it. We have a lot of work to do. We have more work than resources. Hence, we have to rank requirements to work the more important ones first. Well, maybe we […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Need a decision? Know the last possible minute. Little Me: Here is the situation. I don’t have the authority to decide the direction. Please decide. Big Boss: Not today. Little Me: But, I, we, need… Big Boss: If I don’t decide now, will we all cease to exist? Little Me: long pause…I […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes the problem is that we have too many people in the room. Move the discussion to a smaller group at another time and place. Decisions can be difficult. Reaching a consensus among a group of people can be difficult. One technique to overcoming these difficulties is to reduce the number of […]

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by Dwayne Phillips What do companies want from job candidates? I wish they would make up their mind, but I’m just that kind of person. Let’s go around this little goofy circle Companies won’t hire you unless you walk in with a certificate, a.k.a., a college degree. Companies don’t like what colleges teach (see link) […]

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by Dwayne Phillips We can’t do this, too. Why not? Let’s do one thing each day that moves us towards that. This is the kind of thing that Seth Godin writes. I don’t write this kind of thing. And why not? I don’t know how to do it I’d be stealing from him It isn’t […]

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by Dwayne Phillips The most important decision about a project may be when we say, “It is over.” Watching college (semi- or mostly-professional) football this weekend. Several times today I see a 19 to 21-year old score a touchdown and in great glee make enough of the wrong motions to be flagged for excessive celebration […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes people decide simply on what washes in and out with the tide. It works sometimes, but I don’t recommend it. The tide comes in. It carries things, deposits them on the beach, and it goes out. The tide comes in. It picks up what is on the beach, and carries it […]

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