The stupid questions are the ones you didn’t ask #HoskWisdom
- CRM 2016 – Why can’t I add a business rule to the Article entity
- Questions on Microsoft Dynamics CRM solutions and environments
- How do multiple developers work on a web resource within the CRM environment
- How to evaluate job offers for Microsoft Dynamics CRM roles
Ask the Hosk questions
If you ask a question if you are polite it will increase the chance of me answering, don’t forget to say how great my blog is (that really helps).
Consider I’m a busy and sometimes I won’t be able to answer you question. I might not know the answer.
The CRM Forum
I would recommend raising a question in the CRM Forum
- It’s free
- CRM experts who have experience will answer the question
- Microsoft CRM support answer questions
- You might get a number of answers and opinions
If no one answers you question then if you email me I can see you have tried
When you raise a question, try to give as much information as possible, this will help anyone who answers your question.
The CRM forums are a great way to learn Microsoft Dynamics 365, you can see common questions raised by users/developers and the answers from experts.
Question – Transition to Microsoft Dynamics is tough
Hi Ben, I have been working on CRM as a consultant/lead for the last 5 years. Earlier I was working on IBM Mainframes/AS400. The transition has been a rough one with trying to learn on the job. Struggling a bit with plugins as .net fundamentals aren’t strong enough. Can you kindly recommend a good learning path?
Its like for every stumbling block I try to Google it out which is kinda taking the fun out of it
I didn’t answer so he reverted to flattery
Hi Ben, I have been eagerly waiting for your response. Would love to hear your wise words
It worked!
Help yourself
When you ask for help, the person wants to know you have tried, got stuck and now you need some advice to set you off in the right direction. I am reluctant to help people who haven’t tried or thought about the problem because they are taking a shortcut (googling answers, copy code and not learning).
I will go one step further and believe people should think about the problem
Thinking about a problem is the best way to solve it #HoskWisdom
Define what the problem is and work out solutions. I encourage people to think
It’s useful to use the cardboard developer technique and explain the problem to yourself or a small figure (my preference is a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle).
Consultant or developer?
First understand where your destination is before you plot a course. You should have an ideal job role or identified your next role. Answer the questions
- What do I like and dislike about my current role?
- What did I like/dislike about my previous roles?
- What is your dream role or dream job?
I recommend going through the Career Conversation as specified by Radical Candor: How to Get What You Want by Saying What You Mean (a great book I recommend it for team leaders/manager)
I think its better to specialise in become either a functional consultant or a developer. Consider what role you enjoy more because you will be doing it every day for 8 hours. They are separate roles, which need different skills
Consultant skills
- Good communication
- Presentation skills
- Understanding requirements and analyst skills
- Running meetings and workshops
- Strong knowledge of Microsoft Dynamics 365 out of the box functionality
- Gathering requirements, questioning the business, listening
- Converting requirements to Dynamics 365 functionality
Developer skills
- Strong coding skills and experience
- Design code – SOLID Principles, design patterns
- Unit testing
- Integrating systems
- Software engineering
- Knowledge of out of the box functionality
- Debugging, bug hunting
Do everything average or a few things well
I have worked for small companies were my role was consultant, developer, technical setup and support, it was great to learn different aspects of Microsoft Dynamics but I didn’t specalise and I was doing tasks I didn’t enjoy (installing software and configuring servers).
When you work at a bigger companies, you work with experts consultants, developers, DevOps, testers, architects etc.
I think you should focus on becoming either a great Dynamics consultant or a great Dynamics developer but if you try to be both you will be good but not great. Many Dynamics professionals can’t code and instead focus on improving their consultanty skills.
“The man who chases two rabbits, catches neither.” ~ Confucius
Developer path
I’m a developer, so here is advice on becoming a better developer.
Stop googling answers and think, learning and solving problems, this build up your Microsoft Dynamics 365 knowledge. Becoming a CRM developer is difficult, it takes time and effort. Becomean expert in Microsoft Dynamics 365 and improve as a Software Engineer.
No shortcut in become a Dynamics developer
Understand Microsoft Dynamics 365 out of the box functionality, the best way to do this is to take and pass Microsoft Dynamics 365 certifications.
When you come up against problems, don’t search the internet, instead search the Dynamics SDK and understand how it works. The SDK is the core development engine of Microsoft Dynamics 365
The reason to stop getting answers from the internet is because the Internet gives you the answers but it doesn’t help your learn and understand how Microsoft Dynamics 365 works. Getting answers without learning is short-cutting learning and growing your knowledge. This leaves you with fragile knowledge which won’t help you resolve problems not previously tackled.
Known as Chauffeur knowledge
The Two Types of Knowledge: The Max Planck/Chauffeur Test
If you want to improve read books
read the articles below
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