A Force to Reckon With

Recently I rented a car for a trip.  Now, I love my car, a 2005 Subaru Outback LLBean edition, but decided to put the miles to Florida and back on a rental instead.  I went to pick up the rental and was given a 2014 Avenger which I thought was appropriate as we were heading to Disneyworld (who owns Marvel).  I got into the car and took notice of the differences between it and my Subaru.  I turned it on and the first thing the car does is tell me that it is way past due for an oil change and service.  Score one for technology as I informed the company and they provided a different car, a 2014 Chrysler 200.  The counter agent remarked that it was basically the exact same car as the Avenger and when I got into the 200, I had to agree.  The only changes were cosmetic at best.

Which of course got me thinking about Salesforce orgs- how they are at their very base exactly the same thing.  Some are developed and grown to be dedicated to a specific job or process, some are grown to encompass everything a company needs.  There were some things about the car that made me miss my Subaru- no heated seats, radio controls in different places, how it handled, how it just rode on the highways.  The 200 wasn’t a bad car, but it wasn’t the comfortable and known instance of my Subaru.

It dawned on me that comparing the cars was a lot like comparing Salesforce orgs.  There is always going to be things I love in one that may not be there in another- but with the beauty of the platform… they can be added there!  I’m not going to redo a 200 in leather to match my Outback, but I could add power of one to the objects in a new org to provide the same analytic advantages.  The continuing opportunity to learn how so many use and want to use Salesforce keeps me on my toes as a consultant and encourages me as a fan of the platform to see what else could be done.

It’s good to get out of the routine, to see things from another perspective and incorporate what you learn from it into your own work and life.  I’m excited to get to do this for our clients and just to have more experience to share with the community!