Working Up

Working Up in Project Management, Systems Engineering, Technology, and Writing

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There Is No Crying in Baseball and Other Self-Contradictions

April 22nd, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Take caution with negative statements as they often contradict themselves. “There is no crying in baseball,” is a famous line from the movie A League of Their Own. (My wife says that is a movie about sisters. I say it is a movie about baseball.) That is a self-contradictory statement. One person […]

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Tags: Analysis · Appearances · Clarity · Communication · Integrity · Learning · Meaning · Writing

Remote Sensing Is Still Difficult

April 8th, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips We have yet more examples showing how remote sensing is difficult. One day, we learn this well enough to anticipate it? There have been several unmanned craft land on the moon recently. That is a great accomplishment to send something to the moon and have it land soft enough to still function. […]

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Tags: Adapting · Competence · Computing · Engineering · Learning · Remote Work · Risk · Technology

Next-Level Everything

March 4th, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Stretching the mind is generally a good thing. There are many ways to do this, so just do it. Over the years, I have spent hours playing the guitar. If I spend half-an-hour a day playing day after day, what I play starts to resemble jazz. I have some sort of lifetime […]

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Tags: Analysis · Competence · Education · Growth · Improvement · Knowledge · Learning

Nap More, Talk Less

January 18th, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Along with the sage advice, “listen more, talk less,” I add, “nap more, talk less.” “People who nap in the day are lazy.” My mother told me that countless times. Sometimes I disagree with things my mother told me. Now to the title of the post: before opening mouth, rest. Fatigue always […]

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Tags: Communication · Fatigue · Learning · Listening · Rest · Writing

It’s Easier Than Ever to Know a Little

December 18th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips There is so much information available to us, what do we do? Wait, there are also so many great summaries of information available to us. It is easier than ever to know a little. Is that a good thing? It is easier than ever to know a little: It is still just […]

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Tags: Artificial Intelligence · Expertise · Knowledge · Learning · Research · Wikipedia · Writing

You Are Too Good, You Are Fired

October 30th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes some persons excel to the point where they need to be fired. You have outgrown what we do here. You are much more capable than we need. You are fired. Those words don’t make sense. If someone has improved and improved, we want them to stay with us, right? Perhaps not. […]

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Tags: Adapting · Growth · Jobs · Learning · Technology · Tools

Accelerate the Learning

October 19th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Learning is good as it leads to better performance and other beneficial things. There are tools available that accelerate learning. Let’s use those. I try to learn. Sometimes I forget to learn. Yes, fatigue clobbers my mind and I simply forget to notice things, store them, and use them. There are tools […]

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Tags: Competence · Energy · Fatigue · Growth · Humility · Improvement · Learning · Thinking · Tools

The Meeting Is Over, Now

October 12th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Once a meeting ends, the after meeting begins and the real work is done. Can we do this better? I’ve seen it a thousand times—literally a thousand times. I’ve attended that many meetings. The meeting has its agenda and participants. The meeting is conducted. We are finished. People stay in the room […]

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Tags: Adapting · Change · Learning · Management · Meetings · Thinking · Work

Ask the Next Question

October 2nd, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips One basic way to think through to the end is to ask the next question. “And then what happens,” a four-year-old child’s question that is asked repeatedly. Yes, some four-year-old children have endless curiosity. That is wonderful. That is learning. Let it flourish. Adults? Sometimes we just want the meeting to end […]

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Tags: Learning · Meetings · Problems · Questions · Thinking

Will It Scale?

September 28th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips The infamous question in the title might as well be, “What can we do to kill this good idea?” We found something that works well for. We have used it several times. We intend to keep using it. Then someone asks the deadly question, “Will it scale?” They want to know when […]

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Tags: Adapting · Ideas · Learning · Management · Scale · Work