by Dwayne Phillips The ability to read a product catalog does not make a person an engineer or an architect or someone who can think and reason. I have encountered this for 30 years. It is as if someone had a cue card in their hand. They spew product names. Things like: Kafka HDFS TensorFlow […]
Reading a Product Catalog Does NOT an Engineer Make
December 8th, 2022 · No Comments
Tags: Clarity · Concepts · Design · Engineering · Ideas · Systems
The View from Across the Way
December 5th, 2022 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes it is better to see the Eiffel Tower from across town instead on being on the Eiffel Tower and seeing the slums. I’ve seen many photographs of the great pyramids in Egypt. I have only seen a few photographs of the city next to the great pyramids. Yikes. I prefer the […]
Tags: Appearances · Reframe · Review · Systems · Visibility
Levels of Abstraction
November 28th, 2022 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips What are you talking about? What level of abstraction are you discussing? There are levels of abstraction. A car moves me from here to there. A car has an engine, a transmission, wheels, and fuel. An engine has spark plugs and belts and hoses. A spark plug has a housing, insulator, and […]
Tags: Analysis · Communication · Learning · Systems · Teaching
Assuming It was Correct
November 14th, 2022 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Take care when assuming that something was done correctly at some time in the past. “I’ll copy this, modify it, and move on,” said a brave and trusting person. Perhaps “this” was done correctly in the past. Copying and modifying is a good, time-saving tactic. What, however, if this was done incorrectly […]
Tags: Appearances · Change · General Systems Thinking · Systems · Work
The Compliance Matrix
August 1st, 2022 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips I take the time to describe an old tool that helps us do what is asked. There is room for doing more, but we should at least do what is asked. There is an old tool called a compliance matrix. For mathematicians, I apologize for the word “matrix” as this is a […]
Tags: Baseline · Requirements · Simple · Systems · Tools
The Standard Configuration
May 23rd, 2022 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Start at the beginning and build from there. That sure is boring. That is the standard configuration. If, however, resources are scarce and the desire to accomplish new work is high, it is a good place to start. I recently restarted a new job. That is a long story for another day. […]
Tags: Adapting · Baseline · Culture · Learning · Management · Process · Systems · Work
Data Science is the New Web Design
February 10th, 2022 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Many of today’s data scientists are similar to man of the web designers of the 1990s. I think this is a good thing. A recent conversation with a colleague helped me to realized something about data science in today’s world. I thought data scientists were computer scientists, engineers, and mathematicians who knew […]
Tags: Data Science · Engineering · Experiment · Expertise · Mathematics · Science · Systems · Technology · Tools · Web 2.0
Maybe It was a Bad Idea (that survived accidentally)
December 27th, 2021 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Just because something survived and thrived doesn’t mean it was a good idea. There are other explanations. Good ideas bubble to the top. Market success shows those good ideas. Bad ideas fizzle. They don’t make it anywhere. Well, maybe these statements are true, but maybe the aren’t. I see things that have […]
Tags: Design · Expectations · General Systems Thinking · Ideas · Reframe · Success · Systems · Technical Debt · Time
An Accepted Approximation
December 13th, 2021 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips In order to move on with other matter, from time to time we accept approximations and use them. That is fine as long as we acknowledge such. Water boils at 212° F. Well, sort of. There have been many experiments performed on various things we call “water.” When is “water” really “water” […]
Tags: Approximation · General Systems Thinking · Systems · Thinking
The Systems Engineering Test
December 9th, 2021 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Should we be using systems engineering on this project? Here is a simple test. I think systems engineering is useful and brings many benefits. That is why I wrote a short book on the topic. The book is free here. Should we be using systems engineering on this project? Here is The […]
Tags: Decide · General Systems Thinking · Judgment · Systems · Testing