Working Up

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

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That Won’t Work or It Shouldn’t Work

May 27th, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips There are techniques, tools, methodologies, etc. that won’t work—until they do. They shouldn’t work—until they do. What is happening here? Many years ago, we were sitting in a conference room watching a presentation video on a television. The television has a cathode ray tube with a curved glass cover (I wrote that […]

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Tags: Alternatives · Practice · Process · Reality · Success · Tools · Work

Fly Under the Radar for a While

April 18th, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Keep your earth-shattering new thing quiet for a while. Once it works, shout. This is basic risk management. Something has never been done before. That means it is difficult. I have a solution. I can do it or I think I can do it. The best practice, in my experience of doing […]

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Tags: Humility · Management · Process · Risk · Work

Vocabulary and Ceremonies

February 29th, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips We often use the vocabulary and ceremonies of a prescribed practice without actually doing anything worthwhile. Daily standup, peer review, prototype, minimum viable product, agility, AI, agent, etc.: examples of vocabulary that makes it appear as if something good is happening. Do they have a minimum viable product? Is there product much […]

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Tags: Communication · Honesty · Practice · Process · Vocabulary · Work

Lab Projects and Real Products

February 19th, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Take care when confusing lab projects with real products. Both are good, but they are not the same. In all fields of endeavor, we have lab projects and real products. Both can be good. They, however, are not the same. Sometimes product managers and marketers confuse these at their peril. Students in […]

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Tags: Accountability · Engineering · Experiment · Management · Process

Rehearsing for the Rehearsal

August 28th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips There is the meta-plan or the plan about the plan. There is the meta-rehearsal or the rehearsal for the rehearsal. There are many other meta-this-and-that. They are quite useful. My wife and I have been married since 1983 (40 years as of the writing of this post). I recall our wedding rehearsal. […]

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Tags: Learning · Management · Patterns · Planning · Practice · Process · Review · Success · Thinking · Work

The Simplest Thing

June 12th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips New problem? Need a new solution. First, try the simplest thing. It happened again at work the other day. We have a new problem (new day, new problem). We need a new solution. What will we do? Hmmm, there are so many options. Each option with its good things and bad things […]

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Tags: General Systems Thinking · Leadership · Problems · Process · Solutions · Thinking

The Experts and the Rest of Us

June 5th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips The experts devise a better way to do things. The rest of us attempt to follow their expert lead. We flop. Object-oriented programming flopped. Microservices and serverless computing flopped. I guess I could think of a few other great ideas that flopped. How about teaching kids to read via that total method […]

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Tags: Choose · Expertise · Failure · Fatigue · Learning · Process

The Problem, the Solution, and Focus

January 16th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips We can focus on only one thing at a time. That is part of the definition of “focus.” There are ideas for shifting focus that work pretty well. I can focus on one thing at a time. That is what “focus” means—one thing at a time. Am I focusing on the problem […]

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Tags: Problems · Process · Solutions · Technology · Tools

One Thing at a Time

January 12th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips How to you accomplish a big task? One thing at a time. Sorry, I wish there were magic here, but I have yet to see any of that. I recently removed 6,000 pounds of items from a home. Given each item weighed half a pound on average, that is … a whole […]

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Tags: Concepts · General Systems Thinking · Lifecycle · Problems · Process · Solutions

The “Take a Week” Writing Technique

October 10th, 2022 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes, if you wait a week before writing something, you can write it well and quickly. Here is a writing technique that works for me. Try it; it may work for you. I think about something for a week. No great concentration, but thinking now and then, off and on, having conversations […]

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Tags: Communication · Process · Writing