The things that happen when your mini sprogs get hold of your phone*. 🙄😆
I installed a little app on my phone quite a few years ago to tell a texting story, and was revisiting it today when I found a few “stories” I didn’t write.
Not sure when this was created but I think it was before they hit teenage hormone stage as I am pretty sure they’d find this exchange very CringeMaxxing 😆😂
*I also find out when they rename each other on my phone with “stinky” and other inappropriate names. Also when they send gifs of epileptic cockroaches or twerking worms in the family group chat in my name. 😑
#OnThePeiroll
hashtag#TheJoysOfParenting
It’s always the people that I look forward to meeting most at conferences. ❤️
I love seeing old friends and making new ones.
Sometimes we don’t see each other for a loong time but we reconnect again, as if no time has passed by. 🥰
I feel so lucky to know people who make my soul sing, and I always look forward to the next time I get to see them again. ❤️❤️
#DF is where I get to meet lots of people, and would have looked forward to seeing these amazing people if they were going (but I am not going this time 😔)
Vanessa Grant and Tristan Lombard – hosting the #BadAssBA community meetup
Piyusha Pilania and Katie Villanueva – running wellness session drawing, doodling and creative reflecting
Delightful unexpected chance encounters in the past:
… to name a few. If I haven’t tagged you – it’s only because my menopause brain is foggy! 🥺 Remind me where/when you and I met and what we talked about in the comments 👇🏻
Who are you always looking forward to meet at your next conferece?
Please tag them so they know what a special place they have in your life. 💞
I think there’s nothing more special to know that people look forward to seeing you (and are disappointed when they find out you’re not going!) ❤️
People are the reason I am a #DreaminConferenceJunkie 😆
If you’re going to Mile High Dreamin’, make sure to make time for meaningful conversations.
If you’re going to Mile High Dreamin’, make sure to make time for meaningful conversations.
There’s a lot inside and outside the Salesforce ecosystem that can bring you down if you go looking for it, so why not seek out constructive, productive, joyful things to focus on?!
I can’t be there (one day one daaayyy!!) but my boy Christopher Sauer will be!
So go and grab him and also say hi and give a hug to my girl Evelyn M. a positively Grade A1
#HumanBean ❤️❤️❤️
Go to this amazing little #DreaminConference.
Connect and meet with other wonderful people.
Learn, absorb, grow.
Nothing like it for all of the above.
I’m so sad I can’t be there but y’all have the best time!
I broke the loo 😳. In sub-zero temp 🥶
I broke the loo 😳. In sub-zero temp 🥶. On an island made of reeds.😵
Wily’s response taught me more about architect mindset than most projects I’ve sat through.
An architect designs and builds systems that are robust and fit for purpose.
Thoughtfully.
Intentionally.
And always within known constraints.
Every design decision is a trade-off, and weighing that up takes a systems thinking mindset:
🤔 What will this decision impact?
🤔 Where and when might that impact materialise?
🤔 And what’s the mitigation should it turn out to be critical?
So if you fancy yourself an architect, ask yourself this:
Could you build a self-sufficient floating village with nothing but reeds?
That’s what the Uros people of Lake Titicaca have been doing for hundreds of years.
We’ve been staying with our host Wily and his family, and he’s shared their age-old skill of working with nature — building a home on the highest navigable body of freshwater in the world.
Every decision is intentionally thought through.
Each hook, door, beam.
Solar, heating, light.
Plumbing and sewage disposal — especially useful for guests who might have *cough* accidentally broken something in the loo in a freezing snap overnight 😳
“Is ok,” Wily said, and strode off to get his tools.
Which I’m fairly sure is Uros for
“Chill. I got this.” 😎
It’s been genuinely eye-opening to see how they live with joy, with so little.
No internet, save for guest bookings.
No screens.
No technology.
Kids working alongside adults — sewing, knitting, building, repairing, all by hand.
No stakeholder conflicts to navigate.
No management by steering committee.
Just Wily, his tools, and the centuries-old skills of knowing exactly what he’s doing.
Turns out “Is ok” might be the most #BadAssArchitect thing you can say on a project.
Especially when you’ve architected your build properly. 💪🏻
When was the last time you provided unsolicited positive feedback?
When was the last time you provided unsolicited positive feedback?
I just wrote a 5⭐ review for our amazing Inca trail guide Javier, who was the epitome of a safe pair of hands that made a somewhat stressful trip with teens such a success. 🥰
Over the years, I have written over 150 TripAdvisor and Google reviews – most of them 5 stars, calling out exemplary individuals and specific details that made the experience an outstanding one. 😍
On the other hand, I save “areas that could be improved” feedback as private DMs or emails for management so that they can improve (if they wish to) without shame or blame.
My daughter draws little anime art for the wait staff to say thank you for looking after us when we eat out.
I tell the client-side project manager that her BA has been incredibly insightful in the workshops.
I write an email to the junior consultant’s manager about how she handled the difficult high conflict role play in our masterclass really well.
I make little bracelets and keychains for people who have made an impact to my life.
I seek out the good in people and situations and I tell them, verbally straight away so that they can feel proud of the job they are doing, and in written form to those they report to.
This costs me nothing.
But you know what?
They stand straighter.
Their soul feels lighter.❤️
Their star shines brighter. 🌟
And this spreads to those they work with, and those they serve.💕
We can find bad things happening in the world when we go looking for it.
But we can also do our part in making it more beautiful for the people whose lives we touch, no matter how fleeting.
Being genuine in the compliments we give and the meaningful feedback we provide draws people to us, and creates rapport.
This is how we create human connection.
This is how we make meaningful memories.
I know many won’t remember me, but they will remember the feeling of pride and self worth for a job well done because of the words I said or wrote.
I deeply believe that this is so much better than criticising the world and looking for the bad stuff that’s happening in life.
So.
Who are you going you write a positive review for, or provide positive feedback to?
It could even be a compliment to the checkout lady who handled a tough customer particularly cheerfully.
Just spent a week hiking Salkantay Summit
Just spent a week hiking Salkantay Summit and the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu with three teenager sprogs 🥴
( ÜberHub yOuR SpOiLiNG mY aEsTheTIc sHoT !! aGaIN! 😡 )
ANYWAY. Here’s what the trip taught me about project delivery:
🦙 Scope creep starts before the kickoff meeting.
“Why aren’t we doing a beach holiday” was raised just before we left for the airport. This did not trigger a change request, because the plane was already booked and non-refundable. 💸
🦙 Executive sponsorship is not the same as executive buy-in.
I sponsored this.
I funded this.
I did not, at any point, have buy-in.
And believe me, I paid for this, in more ways than one 😅
🦙 Communication cadence/channel matters more than content.
Nobody read the itinerary I painfully printed out, folded and put in their packs😒
BUT, everybody read the WhatsApp messages that had hourly schedule Claude produced from guide briefing transcripts that had emojis. ⏰ 🥤 🦙 🍔
🦙 The most senior person in the room is not always the decision maker.
That was the fourteen-year-old, holding the portable charger.
🦙 Risk mitigation looks like bribery, and that’s fine.
Altitude sickness, fatigue and one memorable strop at 3,800 metres were all successfully de-risked with the promise of alpaca-themed merchandise at the summit.
We made it though! 💪🏻
There was a lot of drama-llama (and soooo many bad puns 🙄 )
BUT. Everyone’s still speaking to each other.
The Wonder of the World held up its end of the bargain rather better than the stakeholders did.
Would recommend.
Would not necessarily repeat without a signed statement of work.
🚍 Now on a 10hr bus journey to Lake Titicaca.
USB power.
Dad’s hot-spot.
Snacks.🍫🧁🍌
Ahhh. Peace and quiet… At least for the next 10 hours 😁
#ProjectManagerInfluencerOnHoliday
