by Dwayne Phillips Earned Value management can be explained at great length (it has). Let’s try two sentences. Some people live by earned value project management. Some people, well, not so much. There are many books and chapters written on the topic (I am one guilty author). Let’s cut it down a bit. If it […]
Earned Value Management in Two Sentences
July 26th, 2021 · No Comments
Tags: Approximation · Estimation · Management · Work
“Meetings”
July 8th, 2021 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips I love meetings. They are fun. At least the meetings I attend. Why attend any other kind? There are many types of gatherings that we call “meetings.” That is a disservice to the English language and to the “meeting.” My little work group has a daily “meeting.” I love it. I laugh […]
Tags: Choose · Communication · Fun · Meetings · Work
Where is the Floor?
July 1st, 2021 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Half the persons in any profession are below average. At what point is a person not allowed in the profession? Where is the floor? Half of all teachers are below average. Half of all interior painters are below average. Fill in the blank for whatever job there is. Okay, we know that. […]
Tags: Accountability · Competence · Systems · Work
Telecommuting and Shipping
June 3rd, 2021 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Working from home? Ship. End of questions about working from home. Fourteen months into the pandemic, many of us are still working from home. We are about to go back to the office building. I think. I am not sure. There are still questions about this telecommuting, telework, work from home, and […]
Tags: Culture · Employment · Expectations · Goals · Myth · Remote Work · Time · Work
The Monday Morning Secret
May 3rd, 2021 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips The weekend tends to erase all prior history. That is a bad thing in endeavors that are worth our time. Monday morning. A good weekend behind me. Okay, now what? Well, what’s interesting in the tech and culture news? Oh, look at that. I’ll spend some time exploring it. Problem: I am […]
Tags: History · Notebook · Record · Remember · Work
Building Products or Building Infrastructure
March 15th, 2021 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Are we making a product or making a product that allows others to make a product. Are we making a product that will allow us to make a product, but we spend so much time on the first that we never make a product? I see this often. People aren’t building products. […]
Tags: Lifecycle · Patterns · Process · Purpose · Work
Figuratively and Literally
February 4th, 2021 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips We often use a “figure of speech” to describe something. Well, that’s nice, but I know that such-and-such cannot literally do something-or-other. Can we please have some literal descriptions? I have recently been reading constantly about a very popular software app. I won’t mention which one because that would take us off […]
Tags: Communication · Fairy Tales · Technology · Work · Writing
Don’t Try So Hard
November 9th, 2020 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes we are trying so hard that we fail to notice the simple and wonderful things right in front of us. Person A: I don’t see. It can’t find it. That idea, that concept, that thing that I’m trying to write. Where is it? Person B: Don’t try so hard. Person A: […]
Tags: General Systems Thinking · Notice · Observation · Thinking · Work · Writing
The Delegated Task Test
November 2nd, 2020 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips When delegating a task to another person, clear communication is key. It is unfortunate that clear communication is also rare. Here is a simple test. Person A: Are you doing task such-and-such? Person B: Not myself. I delegated task such-and-such to Person C. Person A: Oh, good. Task such-and-such is intricate and […]
Tags: Clarity · Communication · Testing · Work
The Overseers
October 29th, 2020 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips If work is important enough to be performed, the product is important enough to be inspected. Someone is supposed to do something. Okay. Do it. Next. Right? This is a note to project managers and those who may think we don’t need or maybe need project managers: You get what you inspect, […]
Tags: Adults · Expectations · Management · Work