Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips Time and again I have seen people make a terrible mess, work hard to fix their mess, and be proclaimed a hero. I still don’t understand why anyone would reward such a person. In the mid-1980s I started managing projects. I looked about to see what my peers – other project managers […]

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by Dwayne Phillips We don’t accept every new gadget that comes from the mind of an engineer. New uses need to be demonstrated for new technologies to take hold. Either that or new generations come along with different values. New technology comes every day. We immediately accept it into our lives without a thought of […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Some people don’t know what they want until they see it. This can be agonizing for those of us who decide what we want and then do it. There is a way for the two of us to work together. The conversation usually proceeds like this: Me: You tell me what you […]

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by Dwayne Phillips There is a difference between gifts and contracts. Givers often confuse the two. I just read several blog posts and comments about giving money to “poor” people only to see them half an hour later buying lottery tickets with the money. They givers were incensed as the poor had promised to buy […]

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by Dwayne Phillips I have known people, including myself, who have nagging problems. They, including myself, have had those problems for years and have never done anything about them. These problems are handy excuses. Perhaps that is why they, including myself, keep them. I am attending a special event this week. There were a few […]

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by Dwayne Phillips An Apple prototype is found in a bar. A stream of events ensue where no one seems to do the right thing. That is too bad. This story won’t seem to die. A basic timeline: Person #1 carries an Apple iPhone prototype out of the facility Person #1 loses the prototype in […]

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by Dwayne Phillips A recent peek into the world of grad students in engineering and related fields reveals a group of people with a strong desire to work for the benefit of others. I have been working with grad students on writing. This took many months to arrange, but for the past couple of weeks […]

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by Dwayne Phillips I have seen encouragement change the lives of people. Here I relate one episode of such. This post is a bit different from the rest. Well, that is if you can find a pattern in the rest of my posts. I’ve read a lot of blogging experts that say you should find […]

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by Dwayne Phillips I have worked with many difficult people. Or is it that I have had difficulty working with many different people? The difference is that have used different words. I have reframed the situation. Reframing is a powerful tool when working with difficult people and in difficult situations. About a year ago, I […]

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by Dwayne Phillips If you are a leader or manager, the people who work with and for you are watching and listening. Bob Sutton recently had a blog post with the theme being, leaders get the behavior they model and tolerate Most leaders and managers understand this little concept. Most manageres even agree with this […]

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