Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips Another instance of “don’t judge a book by its cover” slaps me in the face. I bought my wife an Android tablet for Christmas. If you know my wife, you will need a couple of minutes to regain your composure and resume breathing. Okay, we continue. I, being the smart computing person […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Nothing is so cruel as to learn that the system we built doesn’t do what we thought it would. We are good, smart, caring people. We work diligently to build good systems that serve others. We test. We really test—no kidding, no fooling around. We really test. Then one day, someone walks […]

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by Dwayne Phillips There are a long list of things we could try that would not work, but there may be side benefits for trying. A recent article highlighted what some call agri-hoods where people are trying to live an agriculture life in the outer suburbs. Yes, they are going to grow their own food. […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Regardless of the size and scope of an organization, we all have to opportunity to learn from and pass along learnings to the few persons we meet each day. Naive? Perhaps, but worth a try. I currently work for an organization that has over 100,000 persons in it. Of course that size […]

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by Dwayne Phillips An old technique that always surfaces confusion and moves us towards clarity. Me: Let’s draw a picture of this so I can understand it better. Person A: We don’t need to waste time with that. We all know what it is. …a little while later… Person A: See, we set it up […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Advice on preparing to bring a concept to others. I have a great idea! I have a informed observation! I have something that others should hear or read! It’s obviously worthwhile. What should I do first? Say it aloud (in a safe place). There is something about saying the words aloud that […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Most of us have been through our formative years. How about doing it again? The formative years are… we walk in new we soak in things we are growing without realizing it This may be high school, may be college, may be our first job, may be our first professional job. We […]

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by Dwayne Phillips A speaker can lead an accepting or friendly audience just about anywhere. Hostile audiences, however, can uncover holes in thought. I recommend the questioning group—especially when the stakes are high. It was a senior-level course in Electrical Engineering. The teacher, I can’t recall his name, but I do remember that he didn’t […]

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by Dwayne Phillips A problem with being right is that learning tends to cease. There is a problem with being right or being on the right side in many senses of the phrase: learning tends to cease or at least greatly decrease. Consider what I used to tell boys when I coached them in various […]

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by Dwayne Phillips The best schools: do they teach any better or simply ruin fewer students? Ah, here is yet another list of the best schools (this one is about computer science). I didn’t attend any of these as I could not afford it. Rich kids go to these schools. Their rich parents’ extraordinary tuition […]

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