Organizing events should be a piece of cake for me, after all those years of user groups, CzechDreamins, fun runs and much more. Well, organizing this customers facing breakfast was another level to achieve, but fantastic experience overall.
At first we aimed on January, which feels strange with knowing the end of fiscal for Salesforce. Naturally we quickly reschedule to March, but with all the invites and approvals it was pretty to close after the end of fiscal as well, so one more slip and we finished in April, the week after Eastern.
Three speakers at the end, almost 50 registered attendees, about 50 % of them – as expected – made it to the event, and almost three hours later we can claim it a success. As we all agreed, one event won’t make it a success, we should repeat with other topic and again and again and eventually the market would be mature enough to get the message. That’s why we tentatively scheduled our next Actum’s breakfast to the beginning of June and the topic should be Slack the way you didn’t know it.
Anyway, this breakfast was about Tableau, about the power of AI which came with the Tableau Pulse, about visualisation as it is half of the success, about the practical findings during implementation at P3 Logistic Parks. It was about comparing but also looking back to the history as Michal mentioned during his „you are 60 % below your numbers from last year“ which did hit him quite hard before he realized that last year there was one big deal.
We spoke about the comparison between Salesforce operational reporting and Tableau’s drill down possibilities, about maps, dynamic filters and much more.
Would that be something of interest for you? Let me know and happy to introduce you to our great data team.
The situation begin to be hectic as we are getting closer to the event. We sorted out the speakers (check the whole agenda on our website), still playing around whom will be the keynote speaker (finger crossed), looking for additional sponsors to help us cover the costs (can you be one of them?) but mainly looking for attendees at the moment, which means YOU!
A few things we did for the first time ever, the promotional video below is one of them. We had fun, so hopefully you’ll appreciate it as well.
There will be some relaxing activities as well, obviously coffee and tea. Especially the tea stand was a success every year so we will repeat it this time as well.
Speaking about the agenda I have no clue what to see myself again. This we were able to squeze in some „softer“ presentations – 7 deadly sins of project management, powerful start to any project, secret sause for success, equality, Figma training or how to overcome disengagement, disorientation, and distraction.
We didn’t skip the heavier topics – Data Cloud data modeling (sounds almost weird sentence with so many „data“ in), intricacies of data access, data security with Event monitoring, publicly available flows and why screen flows are the hero of Salesforce.
Admins will find somethings as well – basics of SOQL, how to hire the right person (or rather what is usually behind the scene), how to measure adoption (and improve it), how is CPQ different to standard Sales Cloud and when you need it, backups and why they aren’t the same, AI or usability.
We also have plenty for marketers. Tips for SSJS development, great browser extensions, AMPScript (a session from Salesforce Instructor!), cookies, Pardot aka Account Engagement.
All in all, there is something for everyone. Obviously meeting people from all over the world is already included, you just need to find the time during the day to do so. And something optional is getting ready for the Saturday as well, so when planning your trip don’t leave too soon.
The community conferences poping-up around the world, PolishDreamin in Wroclav and Wir Sind Ohana in Berlin are one of them in Europe. I had the privilige to present at the former one and already looking forward to attend the later one.
Poland, country which is right next to Czechia and where I basically haven’t been yet. Yes, a few business trips to Warszawa, a few team buildings, but it is still a white area for me, so when I found about this conference I was all in. Luckily my session called „Things you didn’t know you can use in your Salesforce“ has been selected and I had a valid reason to go there.
The trip was smooth with the few final kilometers which has been blocked my farmers. Not sure why, but we had similar strike at Prague a while ago, so nothing surprising and with a half an hour delay we made it to the city center.
First impressions – Wroclav is nice city, the center is really small, river around, I immediately liked it.
Dinner for speakers with great food and chats with other people I haven’t seen in a while or ever. Drinks, music and final photo.
Morning run with Johann and then taxi to the airport, as the venue was next to it. A big hall with prepared breakfast, three rooms for presentations, one room of sponsors, roughly 400 attendees, all decorated in Salesforce styles with all the characters and a bit of „forrest“ feeling.
Sharp start and full day of interesting sessions. I had the honor to sit on a CTA pannel with Johann, Ilona, Jakub, and Chetan where we shared what it takes to pass the board and how much our lives changed since then.
My own session has been scheduled at the end of the day, exhausted people fall back into their seats and almost fall asleep. Surprisingly I’ve been able to wake them up and somehow my session has been selected as the best session of the day!
See the presentation below, suprisingly all the text has been lost when uploading to Slideshare but the images are more important anyway.
Ending words, star gala where they’ve been honoring the achievements within the Polish Salesforce ecosystem. As a Czech delegation we – sadly – agreed, that we cannot name so many different people in our bubble, somehow the Czech community is probably not that active or people are hidden without others knowing them. A bit sad.
Party, pizzas, Czech beer – it was a long night to finish this great conference. Definitely one where I want to return!
Jsem se s podcastem rozjel, přelétl celou republiku, vzpomněl si na mládí a doletěl až do Košic, kde sedí Daniel Ban, Head of Salesforce Practice Europe ve společnosti Ness. Zavzpomínali jsme na CassaCloud, povídali o městě, ve kterém jsem nikdy nebyl, zmínili spoustu dalších lidí, kterým muselo zvonit v uších. 50 minut uběhlo jako nic, tak snad na tom budeš stejně.
Zápisky:
Ness je globální firma vlastněná private equity firmou s přibližně 80 členým Salesforce týmem rozprostřeným po celém světě, Dan má na starosti jeho evropskou část;
není historicky vnímaná ve spojení se Salesforce, konzultingem nebo cloudovými řešeními obecně, ale je čas to změnit – cca 4 roky nazpět koupil první Salesforce partnera a od té doby v této technologii jede, byznys konzulting se také rozvíjí, celá firma prochází transformací už pár let – spojení technologických znalostí a byznysu jim funguje hezky. Confluent, AI, UX design nemohou chybět;
Košice jsou takový IT hub na Slovensku, technická univerzita dodává talenty;
CassaCloud měla silný tým a současně přerod pod křídla Ness byl dostatečně pomalý, takže v podstatě všichni zůstali, což se třeba v Americe nepovedlo;
otevírání dveří v salesu jim asi úplně nejde, takže to možná zpomaluje celý růst – „do kelu, jak může Enehano tak rychle růst?“ aneb co vnímá Dan negativně;
proč prodávat Salesforce když na jiných platformách stejný projekt prodám dráž? Trochu jsme diskutovali proč to tak je – bojíme se říct si o peníze, nedokážeme si představit dostatečně velký projekt, zbytečně moc iterujeme takže každá etapa je relativně malá, není to klíčový systém pro zákazníka;
ideální zákazník? Přestože mají hodně malých zákazníků, ideální jsou střední firmy, které už mají peníze na větší projekty;
media/enterteinment (ahoj Media Cloud) a education (primárně sportovní kluby), manufacturing a transportation, financial services, technology a ISVs jsou čtyři hlavní vertikály;
koupili před časem MVP Factory v Německu, která se zákazníky pracuje na vizích, přípravě MVP a pak se tam rozjede plný projekt;
co to přinese, když vice president potenciálně ví víc detailů než technický tým? A když začne školit tým?
skvělí lidé přitahují další skvělé lidi;
jedna věc, kterou by chtěli v Salesforce dělat? AI!
nacházení typů lidí, kteří už jako junioři mají potenciál, je těžký, ale vyplácí se. Změny kariér je velké téma, zvláště lidé z konkrétního odvětví jsou pecka primárně pro konzultanty, u developerů ty změny takové nejsou;
distribuovaný tým je velká výhoda, protože může hledat správné lidi na více místech. Na druhou stranu jeho motivace, vzdělávání, propojení je těžké;
začínají zjišťovat zda mají lidi, kteří mají co sdílet s okolím – Maroš a Karol nastartovali user group v Košicích, nyní přemýšlejí zda by přestali na konference chodit se jenom učit, ale začali i mluvit;
Košická komunita roste, město je to krásné, někdy tam opravdu musím zajet!
I had this book on my to-read list for too long, obviously when I spot it in our book shelf I grabbed it and read over the vacation. Now just digest what I read because it looks too simple. It is also probably the first book where I feel it is enough to read just the summaries at the end of the chapter AND at the same time doesn’t feel it negatively – it just shows how perfect the summary is, reading the whole chapter was still beneficial to me.
Leadership
who not what
hedgehog concept
discipline
technology (really?)
flywheel
build to last
And that’s the point – the book is actually not „how to do things“ but rather a study what they found in companies who made the leap from good to great. Out of Fortune 500 companies (actually 1435) only 11 qualified. The book lists, in the chapters above, what they found as differencies to all the other companies. It isn’t how to achieve it but what might be the difference and you can just wonder whether you can make it.
Level 5 Leaders
First crucial part for real success. At the same time, while you certainly can change, it probably has to be in you.
Enduring greatess through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.
While the „levels“ below push and demand, this one somehow let it go, trusting people and that it’ll be good. Seriously, that’s enough? „I never stopped trying to become qualified for the job“ or „The number one factor was luck“ are another great quotes from the book, while the people were obviously qualified, demanding, with clear vision, they don’t really sell it like that in the book.
They want to see the company even more successful in the next generation, not to be the biggest dog in the room.
Level 5 leaders look out the window to apportion credit to factors outside themselves when things go well (and if they cannot find a specific person or event to give credit to, they credit good luck), at the same time, they look in the mirror to apportion responsibility, never blaming bad luck when things go poorly.
Who not what
They care about who they will work with not on what. Happy to figure out later on what will they do, but they need to have the right people on the bus (and the wrong off).
With the right people you don’t need to care about motivation or how to manage them. They are flexible enough.
The important part is not about the people as that’s pretty obvious, but the fact that you START with them.
The right people will do the right things and deliver the best results they’re capable of, regardles of the incentive system.
When in doubt don’t hire, keep looking. Put your best people on your biggest opportunities, not your biggest problems. Expending energy trying to motivate people is largely a waste of time, the right people are self-motivated. Intense dialogs, heated „scientific“ debate with people engaged in a search for the best answers.
Hedgehog concept
Three circles – what you can be the best in the world at, what drives your economic engine, and what you are deeply passionate about -> the intersection of those is where your business should be. Once you find it and stick with it you will rock, but don’t change it!
Exactly the part what I try to find at Actum and don’t have answer yet. On one handside we want to get work and our aim is pretty general ranging from the „core“ platform implementation to „extensions“ like Marketing Cloud (when we have marketing agency in the house it makes sense), with Field Service being our strongest area but at the same time don’t see that much demand on the market. As Actum we can do anything from CMS, over CRM to ERP and general supply chain consultation to IT security. Great that we can cover almost any IT topic in any company, at the same time aren’t we too broad?
If you feel you aren’t the best in anything, keep looking. Interestingly when the company found that, it was rather recognition of a fact rather than some ground breaking idea.
Discipline
Avoid bureaucracy and hierarchy and instead create a culture of discipline. With the right people on the bus that must be easy to achieve, I would add.
Set your objectives for the year and record them in the concrete. You can change the plans through the year, but you never change what you measure yourself against.
Exactly how we do it here at Actum. I was so surprised by the fact, especially as I joined mid year to struggling team. How dare you compare me the whole team to some plan I didn’t put together? Definitely not the best feeling, but reading about it that makes some sense.
Technology
Well, this one is hard when your living is implementation of technology. But they found out than none of those great companies attribute it any major impact. CIOs who had nothing with technology but came rather from the business side. They understood the needs and didn’t worry that much about what is possible.
It was rather „the second wind“ of their transformations and acted as an accelerating factor. Which is actually a great statement and put me back into ease that I can be in the right field.
Similarly they didn’t care much about their competitors or competetive strategy. Cared about performance, winning, being best, but never in reactive terms.
Flywheel
This can be shortened to the „overnight success doesn’t exist“, but I really like the example about enormous heavy wheel they try to turn around. A lot of energy for nothing but over the time it starts to fly and be quicker and quicker. Don’t try to break it from the beginning, be persistent.
What did they call what they were doing? Interestingly nothing, they just have been doing it. No name for some breaking change, something which will „boom and be there“, constant slow change which was there. Motivation not needed again, because it has to be in the people, you cannot motivate them over long period of time.
So don’t jump right into action, run around, lurch back and forth, implement big programs, skip buildup and jump right to breakthrough, spend a lot of energy trying to align and motivate people, sell the future. You know it all, right? Totally wrong!
Build to Last
Do you want to be just quicker than you were last time or is it important how many people you will take over? Slightly changed perspective, which might have a big impact. Which actually went through the whole book, maybe you can change your KPIs to better align with your philosophy and that will make a big impact.
Now what?
The book brought a lot of food for thought. And I have some tasks – the three circles are probably good start as I’m crossing the Level 5 Leadership of my radar – either I’m one of them or I cannot really achieve it. Happy with whom I have and fully trusting their discipline, not just start the flywheel which takes a bit longer than I would wish for but after 8 months with Actum I can see some light and success in building, crossing my fingers.
You can get it on Amazon or probably everywhere else as well.
