Did you know that talking about #suicide can’t make someone want to do it? You cannot plant the seeds in someone’s head.…
I made a promise that I am desperate to keep. I promised all my ZenHao Academy members that This Thing…
When the night draws in, so does the darkness in our lives.Guilt, shame, regret, grief, loss, pain, loneliness, isolation. The…
I love consulting, it’s been the best career for me. Items 1, 2 and 3 have been expressed by my…
Let’s talk about documentation. Why is it necessary?Who is it for?What purpose does it serve?Is it meant to be a…
You can’t solve a problem if you don’t open your mind, heart and your ears 👂🏻. I’ve observed that in…
We all have off days.Days when we don’t feel like our best. Sometimes it’s because something’s happened.Someone gave us negative…
Imagine being the Mistress of the skies for over 20 years. Grumpy passengers? Easily managed. 👍🏻Medical Emergencies? No problem. 👌🏻Unexpected…
Many of the larger Salesforce Partners had in-house training programme in place for their consultants, but there was nothing out…
The weeks preceding Go-Live are always so nerve wracking.– Deployment checks– Test scripts– Dress rehearsals– Data migration tests– Functional Testsetc…
What do you do if you find a defect at the 11th hour, just before go-live? Someone on a #Salesforce Project asked…
Consultancy project teams are assembled based on availability, capability, and rate. As a client, you might be promised “the best,…
I have such a soft spot for the QA team. ❤They are often overlooked and underestimated. Testers, in consulting, generally…
Would you like to be body-shopped? 😬It sounds crude doesn’t it? Another term for it is “Staff Augmentation”. This is…
2 days before Go-Live.Lead Dev: We’ve found a bug in Pre-Prod that wasn’t there during Systems Integration Testing (SIT).Tester: I…
“Who cares? Especially if I am making so much money?” I wrote a post the other day, about the reasons…
Part 2 of my conversation with Chris Pearson, Salesforce Director at Jostens now live (after much technical issues!) I just had…
So – pizza slice 5 on the Salesforce Consulting Skills (SaConJa) framework. What does it take to be an outstanding #Salesforce Consultant?With…
The fancy new car has been designed with amazing specs.It’s been built with high quality materials.It’s also been crash tested…
“What? You want me to enter EVERY SINGLE OPPORTUNITY?”“What do you mean I’ve got to keep them up to date?”“Every…
Morning! One of the ladies in my Masterclass cohort is hiring #Salesforce peeps. More details in link 👇🏻 #recruitment
I hadn’t realised how much fun I’d have in doing #podcast interviews. What an amazing conversation I had with Chris Pearson, Salesforce Director…
“Stop logging so many bugs! You’re going to delay go-live!” K, the lead QA was appalled.Her job was to ensure…
I had a crush on McGyver. 😍Along with The Hoff in Knight Rider and that dude in Airwolf. There was…
1 year in consulting = 3 years industry experience* That’s 2nd element on my SaConJa** Skills framework (first one is…
What do you do when your team member has lost a child and you cannot ease their grief?Or when your…
Hey, it’s guess the next pizza pie slice of the SaConJa skills framework day! So the puzzle is a little…
Domain Excellence is the first element in my SaConJa* Skills Framework (sounds better than “Cog of Doom” doesn’t it?). This…
Cog of doom.Wheel of death. It’s the last time I ask Husband to help me name diagrams and stuff. 😑…
“You’re the expert – we pay you to make our problem go away.” Many businesses think that hiring consultants is…
The doodle explains why being Conscientious is something that is key character trait in someone I admire. I love working…
I’m doing this Thing on Thursday evening at 6pm BST.Kids will have to get their own dinner or eat each…
Inspired by Ben Duncombe‘s post today about the realities of consulting work in the #Salesforce world… Is it as stressful as they say?Burnouts?Mental…
“How to be a Ninja Consultant in a #Salesforce Discovery.” It’s actually “How to run Discoveries really reallly well” – but that…
#ActiveListening.An under rated skill. Many people feel the need to make the other person feel better with – sympathy“Oh poor…
Power and Politics.How many people do you know play those games well? Many of us find it very difficult to…
But he seemed OK. So I didn’t think he needed any help.She didn’t cry or anything, so I assumed all…
Redundancies are scary. It hits at the core of who we are – our identity, especially our ability to support…
Help! Been invited to speak on 9 Sept and need help deciding on the topic! Paul Harris, founder of Coacto |…
I love questions.I discover so much about others, and so much about myself just by using great questions. It’s a…
There are times when we feel invisible.Isolated.Alone. No one would know if I disappear, you think.No one would know if…
“Why did you do that?”“How come you let that happen?” Judgemental accusation. “Why don’t you do this?”“Why don’t you think…
I miss in-person #Discovery workshops. It’s an immersive experience, as we are there with the end users, the people who works the…
I had a beautiful conversation with Tara Aldridge for my #podcast (dropping next Monday 9 Aug). We connected awhile ago, and met sporadically at…
Testers get a raw deal. Devs dislike them because they point out problems in their code.Functional consultants detest them because…
Knowing WHAT to test is as important as knowing HOW to test. My talk with Richard Clark was absolutely fascinating, as we…
“What’s the point of listening if you don’t try to help?” “Getting into the hole? What for? Now you’re both…
Oh man – I can riff about testing and #QA until the cows come home. Which is why I absolutely LOVED my…
Silence is under-rated.Nobody likes silence. But sometimes…Sometimes you need to leave a few heartbeats of silence, when someone is sharing…
“I can’t believe they are hiring people with the ‘right mindset’ so that they can ‘train the skill’ but they…
Why am I investing 3 weeks of my own time, to train at no charge to out of work peeps…
Do certifications matter in the #Salesforce ecosystem?How about a university degree?These eternal questions comes up again and again. Experience and attitude matters,…
If you’re a “not my job” sort of person, then you’re going to be left behind. Specialisation and division of…
Do you know the difference between sympathy and empathy? #Samaritans explain it using a metaphor of how one would interact with…
When a Salesforce Discovery isn’t done right by the Partner, it signals a very rocky project implementation. Here are a…
“I just got laid off.” “Yeah I got laid off last year. It sucked. But then I started a business…
Salesforce Partners and Salesforce Professionals – if you want to learn how to run Client Discoveries well, this post is…
Hiring companies may not know how to define proper job titles.So, new Salesforce jobseekers – you need to listen to…
Everyone has a hot button. Mine gets triggered when I take a call and the subject hits close to home,…
Why is a soft skill like #communication listed below hard skills like #Salesforce exam certification in a job description? While the basic expectation is…
You need to go the extra mile to break into the Salesforce Ecosystem. Wise words from Justin Greenberg, #Salesforce BA/Product Owner/ Project Manager/…
The fine art of balancing the extremes is a skill that is so important. Especially when working with startup clients,…
There are a few things that a Project Manager loves to hear. “You’re so awesome” is something I hear a…
It’s about getting the balance right.The “Goldilocks” effect.* Not too hot, not too cold.Not too easy, not too hard.Not too…
People are afraid to approach someone they think is struggling, because What if they’re wrong?What if they say the wrong…
In Consulting, there is an expectation of competency. The job is fast paced, and everyone’s expected to pull their sleeves…
Hayfever is killing me but nothing is going to dampen my glorious weekend! I’ve just finished the last day of…
“Here’s what I want – go forth and build.” Consulting engagements doesn’t really work that way. When clients engage a…
I have my own style that is unique to me.But like all competent Project Managers, I have a job to…
How do you talk to yourself?What kind of questions do you ask yourself? Are you kind?Are you brusque?Are you inquisitive?Are…
The word ‘Consultants’ sometimes conjure up mixed feelings. “Consultants charge a lot”, you say “And sometimes a lot of what…
The life of a Project Manager can be incredibly exciting! You’ll get fantastic projects– new technology– super fun clients– great…
Covid’s shit.The secondary and tertiary victims will become more obvious as the pointy end of the pandemic flattens out. And…
“I really don’t think I can take it anymore.”Her shoulder slumps. Your heart starts beating very fast and you don’t…
How do you make prioritising user stories exciting?You assign animal names of course! This was such a fun talk I…
Here’s a tip if you’re worried about what to say when talking to someone who is struggling. It doesn’t matter…
Is it better to be right, or kind? Many programmes featuring Simon Cowell or Gordon Ramsey seem to teach that…
Pushing a new #Salesforce Consultant ‘into the deep’ end to see if they sink or swim is an awful practice, especially if…
You can’t see it but I’m crying inside. 😭In the new world order, virtual discovery workshops will become more common.…
How to create LinkedIn videos in under 30 minutes.Video Link 👇🏻 A few people had asked and I also promised…
Human beings are social creatures.We aren’t meant to be alone. Being in a tight knit team, or a close family…
We really need to listen when someone’s telling us something. Sometimes, we may need to read between the lines to…
Do you assume people know what you’re thinking?Or do you presume to know what other people are thinking? As a #Salesforce consultant,…
I have a graph of my cholesterol reading for the last 20 years, 📈although the data collection and graphing had…
What’s the difference between operational business processes, and life processes – say, the process of making friends, or finding a…
There is a reason why we have ‘Best Practice’ and the golden mantra: Just because you can, doesn’t mean you…
I consider myself pretty good at process maps. 😎They used to be *so* amazing (cough!) that my clients would ‘oo’…
Sometimes I feel like the noise in my head can get quite overwhelming. When that happens, I find it useful…
Would you name your baby DaBomb?Or BooYah?Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. When you get naming conventions wrong,…
How can you listen to so much darkness and not let it taint your soul and spirit?As a listening volunteer…
His job was to break into homes to find the erotic toys and other sexual paraphernalia and get rid of…
Some #Salesforce or #Microsoft Partners play ‘Hot Potato’ with the projects they sell, and it’s a rotten way to do business. Sometimes a culture…
What’s the number 1 skill for any #Salesforce or #Microsoft consultant? Designing great solutions?Solving problems?Competency in product knowledge? Luke Menzfeld from Cloud Galacticos talks about listening as…
Product champions – did they come first in a 3-legged product race? Nope, they help an organisation leverage its business…
Boundaries are healthy. “Allan. This is my invisible wall. Do not cross into my personal space because I do not…
Self harming is more common than you think. When she tucked her hair behind her ear, her sleeve fell away…
GIGO = Garbage In, Garbage Out. This is especially true when companies believe that all problems will disappear with new…
PM’s job in 4 words: Setting and managing expectations. Any PM who isn’t able to do this, really should look…
Wouldn’t it be great if you were like Dr Strange and could test out different versions of the future? That…
Coerce or convince?What’s your preferred style of influencing others? There’s a whole spectrum of tactics:Force, compel, coerce, convince, persuade, ask,…