Do you know the difference between manipulation and influence?
Do you know the difference between manipulation and influence?
Do you need to know how to play politics to get ahead?
Why does the idea of ‘politics’ give people the ick? 🤢
Love it or hate it, we need to understand it to be effective in the workplace.
That is…
Unless you’re lucky enough to work in an environment that is devoid of politics (it’s rare though). 😐
As consultants, we have no real choice as we go into clients environment, so not only do we have to deal with technical situations as well as the landscape of human politics.
We all know that projects fail, less because of technical reasons and more because of the ‘people’
Which is why it’s important to talk about this.
It’s actually the missing chapter in Dale Carnegie’s book of how we can “Win Friends and Influence People.” 😁
We deep dive into psychology of human behaviour which helps us to be more successful in our work, especially at #ZenClub – our Friday community I run with Piyusha Pilania.
Anyway – I hope we’ll see you on Tuesday at the other amazing community I co-lead with fellow #BadAssBA the inimitable Vanessa Grant ❤️
Link to join 👇🏻 (remember to set filter to ‘Most Recent’ as LinkedIn hides comments that has URLs)
How lucky am I that I get to work with such outstanding human beings?! 🥰
See you then!
Gong Hei Fatt Choy!! 🏮🧨
Gong Hei Fatt Choy!! 🏮🧨
Happy Year of the Fire Horse! 🔥🐎
What will this year bring for you?
Especially if you’re a #Salesforce customer and you’re looking to invest in your platform with the help of your Salesforce Partner (who’s also your trusted advisor)??
Well, SalesforceChaCha wrote a cracking newsletter on the topic of this relationship, that can sometimes be a roller coaster of a tempestuous, exciting, dramatic, heart-wrenching, exhilirating, despairing tale of woe. Or not. Unless you #DoItRIght.
Anyway, I loved this so much I felt compelled to riff it in my newsletter this week from the consultant’s point of view.
Link below If you want to know more – but even better if you subscribe so you can get all the fun wholesome goodness straight in your inbox (hopefully not amongst other spammy stuffs) 😬
What are you waiting for?
Your (Chinese) new year resolution should be to subscribe to MY newsletter and SalesforceChaCha newsletter Right.This.Minut.
Or I’ll get my fire horse to eat your wooden sheep. 🐑
Would you get on a video call during school holidays?!
Would you get on a video call during school holidays?!
While you’re at a climbing wall with your sprogs? 🧗🏻
Or at a skating rink? ⛸️
Or even when you’re halfway on the other side of the planet?! 🏖️🌞
Of course! When you’re working with #ExquisiteHumanBeings like these beautiful folks from The Technical Collective. 🥰 (It’s almost lunchtime and my teenage sprogs are asleep “because it’s school holidays mum”🙄)
The news recently have had many questioning their role in the ecosystem especially from a lot of the conversations I’ve been having.
Why are we doing this?
What’s the point of it all?
Should I forget about the time/money I’ve invested learning this platform and go do something else?!?
When we focus on actually doing good
🍩 helping #NonProfits leverage a platform to make an impact…
🍩 helping new talent get the experience and support to get their next role…
🍩 elevating each other when the world feels like it’s going mad…
… (like we are doing at TTC) we are doing #TheRightThings.
It’s half term holidays and Vicki Moritz-Henry is shepherding kids on buses on their way to do some ice skating while Silvia Denaro is watching her sprogs scale climbing walls 😍
Lawrence Newcombe is 8 hours ahead on the other side of the planet, and with Nathaniel Sombu – these people lift my soul, and I am so so grateful to be surrounded by such these amazing people.
When the world gets you down, and things feel dark – look for opportunities to
#DoGood in the world, and find your tribe.
Which is why I have been a listening volunteer for #Samaritans for the last 17+ years. It’s a powerful antidote to the helplessness that can feel so incredibly overwhelming especially during trying times. ❤️🩹
I’m quieter on Linkedin because I have been focusing on work and new projects at the moment, but I felt it important to share this.
My wish for you today is to find your own circle of #ExquisiteHumanBeings. ❤️
And be as lucky as me. 🌹
Pain now is less pain-ier than pain later. 😖
Pain now is less pain-ier than pain later. 😖
That’s what tech debt – in a nutshell means… and this can be applied to almost anything in life.
🍩Fixing that small leak before it turns into a big problem. 💧💦💦💦
🍩Having that difficult conversation NOW, before it becomes an even more impossible one. 😓
So I’ve been talking about the ADC (Agent Deployment Consultant) Foundation course that I’ve been building with Piyusha Pilania right?
A comprehensive course in creating business case, calculating ROI, getting support and funding for a pilot, finding use cases, eliciting requirements and evaluating fit before implementing a full #Agentforce delivery.
We’ve been working on it for a few months now, course structure, slides, video scripts, workbooks, etc… and I hear that Piyusha’s been getting request to create a SLACK course!
During our twice-weekly touch point yesterday, I realised that the softer consulting/business analysis and project delivery skills part of the course should be more modular so that it can be paired with the Slack course that she will be building as well.
Siiiigh.
Re-work. 😣
Frusssssst!! (as we Malaysian Gen-X’ers from Sabah used to say!)
But I know that we need to build it right, right now, so that we don’t have to re-build it later.
I talk about this in my newsletter (link to subscribe below 👇🏻)
Also if you want to join waiting list for our ADC Course to be the first to know when it launches – and get an early bird pricing ahead of everyone else!
What I’ve done (so frusst, but necessary! 😖) also adheres to the Salesforce #WellArchitected principles. Can you tell which one??
At the first #LDNArcs of 2026 tonight
At the first #LDNArcs of 2026 tonight at ThirdEye Consulting where Sam Wadhwani MCMI ChMC gave us a 6 minute crash course on “How to Create Roadmaps That Actually Work”.
OK here’s a quick write up with the help of fieldy and Claude:
He opened with a stat: 24% of Salesforce projects failed last year.
Then asked: “Who’s been in an environment where delivery priority is based on who shouts the loudest?”
Every hand went up.
Here’s what roadmaps actually solve:
Organisations operate under permanent constraints – more demands than capacity, more ideas than funding.
Most default to “close proximity focus” (dealing with whatever’s immediately urgent), which gives false certainty but creates long-term consequences.
What roadmaps are NOT:
🥦Fixed plans with set dates
🥦Commitments to predict the future
🥦Detailed technical solutions
What they actually provide:
→ Executives get confidence there’s a plan without pretending we can predict the future
→ Delivery teams get direction without false precision
→ Architects get a way to connect strategy with structure
The thing is: When leadership says “every release seems harder,” our instinct is retrospective.
But roadmaps are forward-looking. It’s not about past decisions – it’s about the decisions we’re about to make next.
How to create one:
1️⃣Define your constraints (the non-negotiables)
2️⃣Focus on capabilities needed (outcomes, not solutions)
3️⃣Map options to get there (approaches, not tech specs)
4️⃣Create horizons (meaningful states, not dates)
5️⃣Iterate for stakeholder alignment
Three types of roadmaps:
🍩Capability: For executives (business-focused)
🍩Compliance: For regulatory requirements
🍩Technology: For managing debt and platform evolution
We practiced on a fictional retailer trying to cut their 9-12 month product cycle. Success criteria? Clear articulation of what comes first, what comes next, and why.
The real lesson: Roadmaps aren’t about perfect answers. They’re about shared understanding that stops organizational politics from driving priorities.
The best roadmap is the one everyone can use to make better decisions today.
—
ALSO! Today’s session marked the most number of lady architects in attendance! 😍
I’ve been to almost every #LDNArcs meetup since inception and am sooo glad to see so many of us here tonight… But we need a bigger representation!
Thank you CGL Tom Bassett Martin Gardner Raksha Sanganee for organising ❤️
Wehey – Beyond the Org first podcast is live!
Wehey – Beyond the Org first podcast is live! And I am on the first episode! 🤩 Thank you Eric Dreshfield and Omar Y. for such a fun and amazing conversation ❤️
I hope you’ll follow the podcast – I’m looking forward to listening to all the amazing conversations 🥰