by Dwayne Phillips Outsiders, drifters, those who aren’t like us. These are the persons we need the most. We need people here and now who don’t belong here and now. How else would we learn anything? This is pretty simple. With a little thought, most of us would agree with it. Most of us, however, […]
You Don’t Belong Here…so PLEASE Stay
June 24th, 2019 · No Comments
We are Talking about This
June 17th, 2019 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips We are talking about this because this is what we are talking about now. The preacher—the person on TED talks, the motivational speaker, the person next to you at the bar— preaches on the topics that we talk about in the parking lot, the hall ways, the grocery store, etc. At work, […]
Tags: Conversation · Learning · Listening · Management · Notice · People
If Learning is the Goal…
May 20th, 2019 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Schools are for learning. Or are schools for teaching? The two are different. If learning is the goal, this school district succeeded. “High school students crash the WiFi system so the teachers cannot access homework assignments.” The kids at that high school learned a lot. They learned computing; they learned computer security; […]
Tags: Adults · Childhood · Education · Learning · Teaching
The Dry Run
April 15th, 2019 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes the best thing to do is practice once or twice. The object of the exercise is not good performance; it is learning. The “dry run” is a term that comes from the performing arts. It is basically a rehearsal. Practice the thing a few times. Simple enough. What we tend to […]
Tags: Dry Run · Improvement · Learning
Rejoice when the Minions Revolt!
April 4th, 2019 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Those who are supposed to do what I say are revolting. Rejoice. I have succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. When I was 21, I was clueless at work. I had no idea what I was doing or was supposed to do when I walked in the building in the morning. These older […]
Tags: Improvement · Influence · Learning · Management · Teaching
Let’s Discuss Rubbing Spaghetti Play-Doh on Surfboards
March 18th, 2019 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips If you want people to focus on the focal point, discuss nonsense first. Rubbing spaghetti Play-Doh on a surfboard means nothing to no one. (At least I think it means nothing to no one. If someone out there has a strong feeling about it, please let me know.) It is the perfect […]
Tags: Adults · Education · Learning · Teaching
But How will that Person Learn?
February 18th, 2019 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Experts are far more productive than the average. But if we eliminate the average, how will anyone become an expert? Expert managers can manage 10 times the work of the average manager. Expert fill-in-the-blank can do 10 times the work of the average fill-in-the-blank. But how will the expert become an expert […]
Tags: Competence · Judgment · Knowledge · Learning
Stay Until I Enjoy this Job
February 4th, 2019 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips I read that some “young people” don’t stay in their jobs long. They don’t want to waste their life in something they dislike. Enjoyment often requires time. No job is enjoyable the first month. Or day or week or six months. When in a new job, I don’t understand what is really […]
Tags: Jobs · Learning · Time · Work
Read It All
January 17th, 2019 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips We make mistakes. We make mistakes at a given rate of X mistakes per unit of work. Look at all the work, find all the mistakes, learn, and change direction. We make mistakes. We make X mistakes per page. The more pages the more mistakes. In a bad situation? Sit and read […]
Tags: Learning · Mistakes · Work
Looking for an Interesting Conversation?
January 10th, 2019 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips There are several places I can always find an interesting person for an interesting and educational conversation. One is outside any neighborhood elementary school. My grandfather on my mother’s side outlived his wife by 20 years or so. That was and still is unusual. After a year alone, he needed a reason […]
Tags: Conversation · Learning