Working Up

Working Up in Project Management, Systems Engineering, Technology, and Writing

Working Up header image 4

A New Writing Project at Home

April 6th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips I don’t want to jump into the next book-writing project at home. Or do I? I just finished a writing project at home. Done, wrapped up, self-published on the places where my friends and relatives can by it for 99¢. Sigh. I don’t want to jump into the first thing that pops […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Adapting · Alternatives · Analysis · Choose · Writing

Too Simple

March 13th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips We tend to want complex things. Too simple shows that we didn’t work hard, right? No, that is usually wrong. It happened again at work this week… Someone wanted a couple of sentences that summarized a project. The project had been running for ten years and is a success. Lots of people […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Brevity · Clarity · Communication · Simple · Writing

What About the Teachers?

February 9th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips In the past month or two, many have bemoaned the appearance of software that can write essays for students. I have yet to read concerns about software that teachers can use to write essay assignments. ChatGPT is ruining the world. Well, at least some folks think it is ruining their world. The […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Computing · Ethics · Machine Learning · Teaching · Technology · Writing

Politics and the English Language

January 23rd, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips For what it is worth, and I think it is worth much, read or review Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language.” I didn’t take many English courses in college (just one). While happy, at the time, to skip needless courses, I sometimes regret what I could have learned. Then again, I was […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Communication · General Systems Thinking · Honesty · Thinking · Writing

The Metaphor and Thinking

January 19th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Old metaphors indicate many problems. One result, however, is that they prevent thought. Thinking is a pretty good practice, and I discourage anything that reduces it. The old metaphor should be avoided. George Orwell wrote about this in his essay on Politics and the English Language. Orwell wrote it much better than […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Communication · General Systems Thinking · Problems · Solutions · Thinking · Writing

We Don’t Have to Write It All

January 9th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips If AI wrote this, is that okay? The question isn’t that difficult. In the past few months, we have all sorts of artificial intelligence or machine learning sites “writing” things for us. Well, this isn’t that intelligent or learned (in my humble opinion), but clever mimicry. Still it is quite useful. Why […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Artificial Intelligence · Concepts · Ideas · Information · Intellectual Property · Research · Work · Writing

The Editor

December 19th, 2022 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips This post is about the person who edits. Most organizations no longer employ an Editor, and that practice is fraught with imminent peril. Consider The Editor: An Editor is a professional who is the voice of a company, ensuring that all written materials are accurate and of high quality. They work with […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Communication · Competence · Education · Ethics · Writing

Writing, Publishing, and the Like

November 10th, 2022 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips A conversation about writing and publishing and the like. A: It sounds like you have a book—in your head, in your ear, maybe even on paper. It also sounds like you would like to one day have a book in your hand and maybe in the hands of others. A: Tell me […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Jobs · Money · Work · Writing

The “Take a Week” Writing Technique

October 10th, 2022 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes, if you wait a week before writing something, you can write it well and quickly. Here is a writing technique that works for me. Try it; it may work for you. I think about something for a week. No great concentration, but thinking now and then, off and on, having conversations […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Communication · Process · Writing

WDYLT?

October 3rd, 2022 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips A new acronym for each day: what did you learn today? I have read about a new trend called “quiet quitting” in which persons earn their paycheck (a necessary component) and do not more. They are not climbing the ladder or whatever we call is these days. They work hard and then […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Learning · Remote Work · Work · Writing