Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips “I always seem to break the machine.” I hear students say this…frequently. Reframe: I am earnestly doing my job. I try harder than most other persons. I am not sleep-walking through the day. I push the performance of my tools. I want to work with these persons, the ones who always seem […]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips Simple desires for the workplace. Years ago, a wise old man once told me, “The workplace should be pleasant and profitable.” He worked in a commercial business. No profits, no business, no jobs. Profits were necessary. Also necessary, in his experience, was that the workplace be pleasant. If it wasn’t pleasant, people […]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips In the age of the temporary job, the portfolio becomes important to us all. For most of my life, I heard of the artist’s portfolio—the collected works of an artist. Well, welcome to the age of everyone-is-an-artist. Everyone needs a portfolio to show potential employers. Wikipedia has a few definitions of portfolio […]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips I contemplate a simple yet still effective management tool—the humble calendar. What will I do tomorrow? What about the day after? What about next month. Oh, wait, is next week in next month or this month? How can I keep track of time? We revisit the humble calendar. If this is insulting […]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips I review yet another fundamental of accomplishing work that seems to have been forgotten. In order for us to accomplish our work and our mission, we need you to do something. Here is the work. Here is the schedule. Here are the resources. Please. I suppose we leave off most of those […]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips We work in the real world; not in one where what we wish is true. Sometimes we simply need to teach a little. A: I told these people what to do…and AARGH (pained expression interrupts speech). B: How did you teach them how to do that? A: What? What do you mean? […]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips Another troubling thing recruiters often say. Recruiter: Oh, so you’re interested in an oversight position as opposed to hands on. Me: No, I am not looking for an oversight position. I really don’t understand what that is. Since it is your word, would you please explain it to me? Recruiter: …silence… Me: […]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips Confronted with a big mess? What do you fix first? What order? Try this suggestion. I once entered a job where everything was a mess. Chaos? Well, I won’t write that chaos reigned as that implies there was some order someplace. I found none. It was a mess, where to start? I […]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips When building and maintaining a system, the fundamental question is, “Whom am I trying to please?” This post offers a different answer. User, Customer, Manager, Boss? What do I call the person I am trying to please when building or maintaining a system? Whom am I trying to please? Here is a […]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes the way to accomplish more sooner is to acknowledge the person and wait until later. A short but true story: We were short of persons in one particular skill category at work. Work piled up. We were waiting, mostly impatiently. Finally, a new person arrives in that skill category. All of […]

[Read more →]