by Dwayne Phillips The follies and pitfalls of a trade study. One of the more wasteful things governments, persons who work for governments, do is commission a trade study. Go forth, study something, and report back to us. Time passes. Persons run about asking questions and reading readings. The money flows. Keyboards clickety-clack, spots appear […]
The Commissioned Trade Study
April 17th, 2017 · No Comments
Tags: Analysis · Communication · Customer · Expectations
The Present and the Future
March 16th, 2017 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Here we are in the present. We can decide how we create the future. Things are the way they are because they got that way. Let’s try that again…The present is a natural result of all past circumstances. There are people, capabilities, technology, budget, outside forces, and a host of other things […]
Tags: Choose · Design · Excuses · Expectations
Please Don’t Take Away My Excuses – part 2 I’ll Have to be Responsible
March 9th, 2017 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Excuses are great. As long as I have plenty of excuses, I don’t have to take responsibility for my life. I have plenty of excuses why my life isn’t the way it is supposed to be. I have plenty of excuses why my job isn’t what it is supposed to be. Please […]
Tags: Excuses · Expectations · Failure
Please Don’t Take Away My Excuses – part 1 I’ll Lose Choices
March 6th, 2017 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Excuses are great. One of the best is “I have so much to do” as it gives me choice as to what I will do today. I have ten jobs I do. If I don’t want to do #3 today, I have an excuse as I am really busy with the other […]
Tags: Excuses · Expectations · Work
The Gift of Expectations
December 22nd, 2016 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips One of the best gifts to give another is that they expect you to be consistent. This holds for managers on the job as well as grandparents at home. ‘Tis the season to give. Consider giving someone the ability to expect you to be consistent. Let’s start with Grandparents: When my (absolutely […]
Tags: Authentic · Expectations · Family · Management · Work
Something for Nothing, Nothing for Something
August 22nd, 2016 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips A new deal where we are offered something for nothing indicates that the provider has been delivering nothing for something. This isn’t just a rant at McDonald’s or Starbucks. It holds for any situation where we expend some resource from some product or service. Someone is “improving” their offering at the same […]
Tags: Change · Communication · Customer · Expectations
The Great Value of Policies
July 11th, 2016 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips This isn’t politics, it is groups of people endeavoring to accomplish something. Give them a gift—policies. A policy is one of the best gifts upper managers can give to an organization. No, I’m not kidding. We have to understand what a policy is and how we use it. A policy is a […]
Tags: Communication · Expectations · Management
3D? I Want 2D
May 2nd, 2016 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Call me too literal, call me too geeky, but I want to have actual 2D anything. 3D! 3D! 3D! Everybody wants 3D everything. We want… 3D printing 3D user interface on the smartphone 3D movies 3D gestures for control of computers 3D integrated circuits The list goes on. Silly me, I want […]
Tags: Computing · Expectations · General Systems Thinking
Learning What You Want to Be
March 24th, 2016 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Here is an exercise that may help you learn what you want to be or learn what excites you. Not sure what you want to be? Have someone say, “You will one day be a fill-in-the-blank.” For example, have someone introduce you to a stranger by saying: This is Dwayne, he will […]
Tags: Expectations
Is This a Job Interview or a Consulting Session?
March 3rd, 2016 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips I have been interviewed for jobs several dozen times in the last three years. Most “interviews” became free consulting sessions. The past three years have not been good for me and working at paying jobs. I am over age and over qualified. At least I soothe my feelings by telling myself these […]
Tags: Communication · Competence · Consulting · Employment · Expectations · Greed