Learning New Skills Quickly

I wrote this article back in Summer of 2019 which seems like a long time ago. The world around us has changed a lot since then. The phrase Digital Transformation has been thrown around quite a bit and the part of the transformation that was most salient in the pandemic is the pace. Lots of companies realizing that they way they do business needs to change quickly to support their customers and employees no matter where they are. So, I am revisiting this topic because not only is it relevant but also this put an enormous onus on the employed and job seekers to upskill quickly to support the changing business needs.

In my ecosystem, I saw this happen right in front of my eyes. Salesforce folks getting certified in large numbers - thanks in part to Salesforce relaxing the rules about exam taking at home. So, how are all these people, including myself, able to learn and get certified quickly? I can only speak for myself and over the past three years I went from knowing and implementing Sales, Service, Pardot, Communities (Experience Cloud) and custom development to CPQ, Field Service Lightning, Omnistudio, Manufacturing, Sustainability Clouds etc.

What motivated me in 2019 to write this post? I've been meaning to write this post for a long time about how I learnt Pardot in a fairly short span of time. Finally I am motivated because I am super excited about my Pardot guru (Andrea Tarrell) @ mentioning in Twitter as Pardot peeps to follow.

While I still have this excitement in me, I want to share how I went from little knowledge to enough knowledge to be worthy enough to follow on Twitter. I followed a fairly systematic approach, used the "free" resources at my disposal and got help from the fantastic community to be a confident problem solver when it comes to Pardot and I think if you apply the same principles, you can conquer any technology.

1. New! Trailhead and developer environments: Trailhead - the online learning tool for Salesforce professionals, has improved tremendously over the years. With a large number of hands-on exercises, it not only prepares you for certifications but also prepares you for some near-real world challenges. Almost every cloud has it's own developer org. There are still a few gaps but for the most part, you can get a free developer org to practice fearlessly. Take advantage of this generous offering!
2. New! Learn how your company incentivizes learning: It is in your company's best interest that you learn and prove your knowledge by working on Trailhead modules or get certified. Get involved and see how your company incentivizes learning. I know many companies pay for certifications and some of the great ones offer bonuses for certifications. Definitely take advantage of these programs!
3. Obsess and be curious: Once I got over the initial mental block that the technology is unknown to me, why it's tough and reasons for me to NOT learn it, I went on to obsess about it. There were times I would not sleep or eat until I have solved a problem. I'd be tired, grumpy and unforgiving to myself but it had to be done. If I wasn't this passionate, I wouldn't get the hang of it. So, obsess about it. Sometimes, walk away (not easy) or pick up another task (an easier one) to get your mind off and then come back - you may be able to solve it faster with some breaks. Also, be curious, have an inner dialog asking why things are the way they are, how would you automate a manual process that the online resource is describing, what's the relationship between these objects etc.? Keep a log of your questions and try and find answers online.
4. Document like crazy: Not everything you want is available in a nice and systematic manner on google. You might find some resources on the product website, some on blogs and elsewhere. While you still have it fresh in your mind, document all your resources. Think of it as a Masters or PhD thesis that you are writing and that you need to save all your references. I have a bookmark folder for all the products I work on - Salesforce, Pardot, Conga etc. I create a separate Google doc for each of the clouds with all the Trailhead questions with answers, important notes in Salesforce Help & Training articles, and other pertinent information that I am likely to forget. I refer back to my curated information just before the exam to ensure maximum "stickiness".
5. Back up code - yours or anyone else's: This is relevant when you are learning on the job and NOT in your own developer org. While I think it's the best way to learn while on the job, it doesn't come without it's own pitfalls. For example, I've done fair amount of code for one of the projects. Once I was looking at another coder's work to reference and accidentally overwrote his code. I nearly had a heart attack but I realized I backed up his code (thank goodness!), so I was fortunate I was able to restore quickly. So, be careful and thoughtful especially when you are not yet an "expert" in what you are trying. Of course, never ever do any development - even simple declarative stuff in production.
6. Ask for backup at work: Not everyone has the time and flexibility when there are thousands of things flying at you. Ask your manager or teammates to help you with your tasks if you are struggling to juggle it all. Some times you might find a helping hand to offload some of your tasks while you focus on learning something that might add more value to the client or your stakeholder. I've done this in the recent past when I needed to focus on learning how to do Salesforce translations while my colleague generously offered to help on some of my other items. Your sanity and clear head are key to your learning process.
7. Find influencers online and user groups: I find it hard to believe if you told me that Salesforce is the only product that has a great community and platform for sharing ideas. While I am fortunate that it exists, I am sure every technology has experts and enthusiasts who are willing to help. I know WordPress enthusiasts have helped me in the past on Twitter. So, find the right people and the right platform to reach out to these people who will help you out. I've always gotten such great quality and quick responses from my gurus, none of whom I've met in person but hope to some day! Finally, find a user group, ask questions and seek answers from the community. I know I did this a lot for an Experience Cloud project.
8. Finally, pay it forward: In 2019. what got me the shout out from my guru is my persistence and follow-up with tough questions. In the process, I have also gotten better at answering questions that other community members have. So, give back to the community with the knowledge you have. Sometimes what this does is, people will tell you what they did to solve the same problem. So, it opens your mind to new ideas and new (and maybe even better) ways of doing things.
9. Don't diminish yourself: While we all try and stay humble because we are constantly learning, the advice that I got from my husband is "Don't diminish yourself. Be proud." That's the most valuable thing I learnt from my exercise.

Nothing is impossible and find joy in piecing the puzzle together even if it means you won't put all the pieces in one sitting.