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 […]
Fly Under the Radar for a While
April 18th, 2024 · No Comments
Tags: Humility · Management · Process · Risk · Work
The Fireman Arsonist
April 1st, 2024 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips We reward the fireman, the person who extinguishes a fire. Did the fireman, however, start the fire? I used to see this often. I worked in a place where engineers would plan projects and deliver systems per their plans. The trouble was: the engineers were terrible planners. They were good system designers […]
Tags: Design · Engineering · Planning · Record · Systems · 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 […]
Tags: Communication · Honesty · Practice · Process · Vocabulary · Work
Of Course Middle Managers Aren’t Brilliant
January 15th, 2024 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Why do we wonder why middle managers don’t seem to do anything useful. That is the definition of “middle.” We disdain the “man in the middle.” He or she doesn’t seem to do anything but cause greater expense. We disdain the middle managers. They don’t do anything but add levels to the […]
Tags: Accountability · Jobs · Leadership · Management · Work
Work From Home, Work at the Office (And Commute)
January 4th, 2024 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips There are many aspects to working from home or at the office. One is simply the time wasted commuting. Folks are returning to the office after the pandemic. They are? Are they saying they are, but not really? One simple aspect of the question is commuting. I live in he Virginia suburbs […]
Tags: Accountability · America · Economics · Employment · Meaning · Measure · Remote Work · Work
Lower the Bar
November 23rd, 2023 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes we simply have to lower expectations when it comes to what other people will do. Too bad. We can do better. It happened again the other day at work. I needed signatures on paper, or at least the digital equivalent of them. It was all set. Go to this building on […]
Tags: Accountability · Alternatives · Expectations · Failure · Improvement · People · Work
Two Essentials for Employees
November 20th, 2023 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips There are two essentials for an employee. Given the job market, it appears that the great majority of employers don’t understand these essentials. I have been on both sides of the hiring and being hired world. I find two and only two essentials: Okay, that’s it. Next? The trouble is, it is […]
Tags: Ethics · Jobs · Judgment · Multitasking · Remote Work · Testing · Work
We Don’t Have Time
November 6th, 2023 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips The old saying about not having time to do it once still holds. Perhaps we will learn one day. There is an old saying about not having the time to do something right, but always having the time to do it over and over and over and… I’m not sure who said […]
Tags: Choose · Communication · Expectations · Time · Work
The Meeting Is Over, Now
October 12th, 2023 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Once a meeting ends, the after meeting begins and the real work is done. Can we do this better? I’ve seen it a thousand times—literally a thousand times. I’ve attended that many meetings. The meeting has its agenda and participants. The meeting is conducted. We are finished. People stay in the room […]
Tags: Adapting · Change · Learning · Management · Meetings · Thinking · Work
A Sense of Urgency
October 9th, 2023 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips We have tools that multiply our productivity. Every age seems to have such tools. Will we have the sense of urgency to use these tools this time around? From what I can find, the screwdriver was invented in the late 1400s. It was created to, of course, turn screws. The screws were […]
Tags: History · Improvement · Jobs · Purpose · Technology · Urgent · Work