Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips Stop. Breathe. Think. Now act in a way that leads to what is desired. Stop. Breathe. Think. Act. In that order. I think that is the definition of a wise person acting wisely. “Knee jerk reactions” are not in the definition. A long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away) a […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Ornamental objects are preserved. Practical objects are frayed and discarded. It is easy to confuse the two. Ever see a coffee pot from the 1940s? Except in old photo collections, I haven’t. Ever see a coffee service made of silver and engraved by a master craftsman? Yes I have. Museums are full […]

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by Dwayne Phillips “We have a process we use here” usually means one person declared the process and that process will disappear the day the person leaves. I have recently encountered organizations where “process is everything.” I hear boasts of, “WE do it this way all the time.” In my experience of 45 years (yes, […]

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by Dwayne Phillips I can introduce problems by asking others to consider a specific example. Often, a general example works better. Years ago, author and consultant Jerry Weinberg was leading a session on how to lead sessions. Jerry began with, “feel the sand between your toes on the exotic beach with the surf gently sounding […]

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by Dwayne Phillips I find it good to be specific. There are, however, times when being specific limits thinking, and that is not good. Precise, concrete, and specific: three concepts that are good for writing and communication. I try to remember these things that were burned into me in my first semester of college way […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Every generation seems to have its magic technology just about to burst on the scene and doing something wonderful and financially rewarding. Most of the time, nothing happens. Back in the early years of this century, carbon nanotubes were the thing to discuss. We were to build computers thinner than a piece […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Writing is a type of thinking. Thinking often leads us to discover something. Writing (thinking) is worth the effort. Writers often divide their methods into two camps: outlining and “pantsing” (seat of the pants). Those who use outlines think ahead, plan, create detailed outlines, then write by filling in the outlines. Those […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes we hold popular ceremonies without thought. Doing just about anything without thought can be fraught with peril. There are many popular ceremonies among those of use who build systems. One of those is the daily standup meeting. I could go on with a long list of these. Are we using these […]

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by Dwayne Phillips One of the reasons to use these chattering bot word generators is simply to stop wasting time. A typist is a professional who specializes in accurately and efficiently converting information into digital format. This may involve transcribing handwritten notes, audio recordings, or printed documents into electronic files. They also possess strong data […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Analyzing the gap between what we have and what we need is a good practice. Beware, however, that it doesn’t stop people from thinking and focus them on the same old thing. “Gap analysis is a systematic method used to identify the differences between an organization’s current state and its desired future […]

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