Working Up

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. […]

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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 […]

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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: […]

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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 […]

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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, […]

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by Dwayne Phillips If I work directly for you, I will do as you say. If, however, your are three or four levels distant, meh. A number of years ago I wrote about the information thermocline. Bureaucracies tend to reduce the flow of information as it attempts to pass from the top to the bottom. […]

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by Dwayne Phillips In which professionals show Parkinson how to make some real dough. Parkinson’s law is the adage that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”. It is sometimes applied to the growth of bureaucracy in an organization. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson%27s_law When work is slow, it expands. That is, the workers […]

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by Dwayne Phillips When in doubt, take the easier way. That seems to be the norm. We bumped into some odd situations this week at work. Four months ago, something was supposed to happen. Something major was supposed to happen. Nothing happened. Actually, nothing appeared to happen. Major things did happen. Several persons acted decisively. […]

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by Dwayne Phillips What interests me today? The project that I am working today? Perhaps not. I know I am working on this project today, but it is just another project. Sure, I want it to succeed, but really, it’s just another one. What really interests me is finding the BIG IDEA. That thing that […]

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by Dwayne Phillips We all need assistance in our work. There are requests for assistance that bring assistance. There are requests for assistance that bring nothing. We all need assistance in our work. Persons who can do their job well all the time are stalled in a job that doesn’t challenge them. There are requests […]

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