Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips I learned a problem-solving method when I was a sophomore in college (in the previous millenium). It still works. I have a problem today at work. I have no idea what to do. Let’s fall back in time to my second year of calculus in college. The professor told us something like: […]

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by Dwayne Phillips I often saw companies blamed for bad management. The real problem was estimating in time of greatest ignorance and customers not mitigating the risk of such estimates. For a couple of decades, I monitored the performance of companies on government contracts. Part of this job was to grade the companies on how […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Some 25 years ago, I learned something that has stayed with me. The reason it has stayed with me is that it still holds true: Don’t depend on live demos. The title of this post is a statement made often by one of my advisors in graduate school way back at LSU […]

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by Dwayne Phillips A list of activities that are a lot of work. On a recent visit with family in Louisiana, a group of us discussed: decorating cakes for weddings sewing and making clothes cooking for 50 people and a few more things like these The consensus was these are a lot of work. To […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Most government agencies are dysfunctional. There are simple reasons. One reason is that the path to promotion lies in spending money, not bringing value per cost. Try to understand how people “get ahead” working inside a government agency. To make more money, you are promoted to a higher grade. I worked in […]

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by Dwayne Phillips There are many processes available to solving problems and and working situations. Despite all our advances in methods and processes, still the best method in many cases is to focus on the problem, commit resources, and solve it. Here’s the secret step to solving any problem: Solve it I was reminded 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 I perform better when I feel better. I can decide to feel better thereby improve my performance. Have you ever had the opportunity to (safely) crash someone else’s car? To spin the tires? To do a 180-degree spin? I had the good fortune to do that about 30 years ago. It was […]

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by Dwayne Phillips When faced with a situation on a system-building project, we can find an approach that will work. We can also find many other approaches. Do we choose the better approach or one we personally like? Several years ago, a professional soccer player spent a few afternoons helping to coach one of my […]

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by Dwayne Phillips We use process on projects. Aargh, process can be irritating and it can be precious. We are still snowed in here in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington D.C. The main roads are clear now, but six to eight inches of snow remain in my yard. Most of us here are sick […]

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