Matt Baum

Reposting this because it matters. Genuine feedback in hiring is rare — especially feedback that helps you improve, not just move on. If you’re in the middle of a job search, applying into what feels like a void, this is a reminder that clarity changes everything. One honest data point can save months of frustration and self-doubt. For leaders and hiring managers: closing the loop isn’t extra effort — it’s leadership. It shapes people’s trajectories long after the role is filled.

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🧭 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗜 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝘆 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗮𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗿 — 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗢𝗸𝗮𝘆 I used to think careers had to follow a straight line. Climb the ladder. Stay in your lane. Retire with a title. But 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲? Started in ERP ➡️ moved into Workday ➡️ learned integrations ➡️ took on project leadership ➡️ earned my PMP ➡️ now diving into Agile & analytics. The corporate world often celebrates the straight line. But in real life? Growth looks more like a zigzag, a spiral, sometimes even a detour. And guess what? That’s where innovation lives. That’s where resilience is built. That’s where leadership is forged—not from predictability, but from navigating change. Not a straight line—more like a purposeful zigzag. ⚡ Every turn brought 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵. Every pivot taught me something new. And none of it was wasted. 🙌 Careers today aren’t ladders—they’re lattices. So if your path isn’t “by the book,” don’t hide it. 𝗢𝘄𝗻 𝗶𝘁. 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘁. 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗶𝘁. Your journey is your edge. #CareerJourney #Leadership #Workday #pmp #NonLinearCareers #GrowthMindset #LinkedInWisdom

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Creative Planning Business Services is proud to sponsor the Master Builders of Iowa AI Accelerator. Off-the-shelf LLM tools won’t swing a hammer but they will draft RFIs, summarize meetings, review contracts, and find that one buried detail in a 200-page spec in seconds. The firms getting familiar with these tools will be faster, more informed, and more competitive. You don’t need to build your own model but building fluency is becoming imperative. We want to help when your company's needs go beyond a simple off the shelf tool implementation and/or finding those needs. We are glad to support an initiative helping construction leaders turn AI curiosity into practical capability. Thanks for leading the session Zach Giglio.

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I know the new #JDE feature called Widgets are extremely powerful as an example of features you can adopt during an #ERP upgrade! . . . #jdedwards

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Just read a report showing companies are SLASHING ERP training budgets to 'save money'. Same execs will be shocked when adoption tanks. This isn't a training problem. It's a leadership problem wearing a training costume. Here's what actually happens: 1. Execs cut training from 10 hours to 1 to "save costs" 2. They roll out generic training that doesn't match real processes 3. They offer zero ongoing support beyond basic troubleshooting 4. Then they blame the ADMIN when nobody uses the system Spoiler alert: Your Salesforce Admin isn't just "fixing bugs" after this train wreck. They're: - Running shadow training sessions - Creating documentation nobody funded - Translating executive decisions into actual workflows - Managing the change that leadership abandoned That's executive-level work without the executive-level title. If you're an Admin holding this chaos together: You're not "just supporting the platform." You're providing leadership nobody else will own. Time to stop letting your skills stay invisible. You deserve better. The title should match the responsibility.

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Incredible example of mission-driven tech in action. When 70 Iowa libraries needed a fast, flexible solution, the LocalHop team delivered - and empowered local staff along the way. A great read on resilience, collaboration, and people-first platforms👇 #CivicRecovery #LibraryTech #MissionInMotion #PublicImpact

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MAS Upgrade Tip 🚨 IBM made a great change after listening to user feedback. This is an important change that I learned about while in a session with Jordan Smith at MaximoWorld 2025. Skip MAS 9.0 and go straight to MAS 9.1 to avoid user shock and potential backlash at you if you are the admin. If your organization is upgrading from Maximo 7.5 / 7.6 (or earlier) to the Maximo Application Suite, this quick video explains why you should skip MAS 9.0 and target MAS 9.1 instead. #Maximo #MAS9 #MAS9_1 #IBMMaximo #MaximoUpgrade #changemanagement #MASManage #Maximo7_6 https://lnkd.in/eeyPG2TU

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I have yet to see AI logic and reason to the extent of a seasoned Salesforce Architect, Analyst, or even Administrator, so at least in the immediate future I don't foresee AI completely replacing jobs. I see it augmenting positions, allowing people to do more with less, and automating away the repetitive low-level tasks. As a result, employers may ultimately need fewer employees, however, those that stick around will need to bolster their skills to adapt to this new technological landscape, and become standouts as critical thinkers.

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When your internal IT team is stretched thin, projects stall and risks grow. Many Southwest Missouri businesses are finding that co-managed IT bridges that gap — giving in-house teams extra capacity without losing control. With co-managed IT, your staff keeps their hands on the wheel while our specialists handle what slows them down: advanced cybersecurity, 24/7 monitoring, patching, and compliance planning. It’s a partnership model, not a takeover. For businesses in healthcare, legal, and manufacturing, this approach adds experienced eyes on every system — preventing burnout and helping meet complex regulations like HIPAA or PCI-DSS. And because we’ve been serving Springfield-area organizations for over 25 years, you get local expertise that understands both your network and your neighborhood. The result: fewer fires to fight, less stress for your IT staff, and a stronger, more secure foundation for growth. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gzyuGU-M #coManagedIT #managedit #cybersecurity #businesscontinuity #compliance #springfieldmo #acisitsolutions #sgf #sgfmo #showmespringfieldmo #springfieldmobusiness #springfieldmolocal #swmo #417land #417local #417smallbusiness #technicalsupport #itsupport

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I fell in love last week. Not with a person. With infrastructure. I spent time reviewing what Salesforce is building with Agentforce — and I think many operators are underestimating what this means. This is not another “AI feature.” This is CRM becoming autonomous. What stood out to me isn’t the novelty. It’s the structure. Agentforce is designed to move beyond AI that summarizes or suggests. It’s built around AI agents that can reason, take action, and operate inside real sales workflows — directly within Salesforce. That shift matters. If this works at scale, we are looking at: Sales workflows that execute with far less manual effort Follow-ups and pipeline hygiene handled automatically Context-aware actions triggered by real CRM data Measurable ROI tied to actual revenue outcomes The important nuance: AI does not create leverage on its own. Operational maturity does. Organizations with clean data, defined processes, and structured workflows will compound the benefits. Organizations without that foundation will simply automate chaos. The competitive advantage will not be “having AI.” It will be being structurally prepared for AI. That is the real game changer. If you are running Salesforce — or any CRM — this is the moment to ask whether your systems are ready for embedded AI agents. Because CRM is quietly evolving from database to operating system. If this is relevant to you, comment “AI CRM.” I will send you our AI-Ready Sales Infrastructure Checklist — a practical framework to assess: Data integrity Workflow maturity Automation depth Agent opportunity areas A 90-day enablement roadmap It is the same evaluation we use before implementing AI automation systems for clients. Let’s build leverage, not noise.

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At today's PMI-Milwaukee/Southeast WI Chapter Professional Development Day, Joe Pusz - PMO Joe shared a powerful idea that really resonated: focus on capability over maturity. It’s easy for organizations to get bogged down refining processes, checklists, and governance models. Because is the goal to manage a the project or delivering new capabilities? When I think about the Workday for Public Sector system that Waukesha County, WI County just implemented, that question hits close to home. Did we simply roll out an ERP system, or are we driving toward something bigger — building public trust, improving service delivery, and becoming better stewards of taxpayer dollars? If maturity measures how consistent we are, and capability measures how effective we are, then I think the sweet spot is clear: Consistency is good - but capability is what truly moves us forward.

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I hate to break this to you. But there's no Phase 2 in your D365 Commerce project. That customer portal you deferred? Not happening. The inventory visibility integration? Shelved. The personalization engine? Gone. Phase 2 is where ambition goes to die. It starts innocently enough. Budget's tight. Timelines are slipping. Leadership wants to "stabilize first." Except stabilization becomes permanent. Your SI partner rolls off. The Phase 2 budget gets reallocated. The Ops team drowns in BAU. Meanwhile: Customers get generic experiences. Your 'omnichannel' is still a dream for the future. Your call centre drowns without self-service. Those "temporary" workarounds? Now embedded in your operating rhythm. Here's what I've learned: if it matters, it goes in Phase 1. Not everything. Just the value. The integrations that make omnichannel work. The automation that removes friction. The features that drive conversion. Everything else? Treat it like it's never happening. Because it won't. So, build your commerce platform like Phase 1 is all you've got. Because it is. PS. The most common features I see deferred (that should have shipped): real-time inventory visibility across systems, order tracking, true omnichannel capabilities. What's on your Phase 2 list that you know will never happen?

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I'm not formally trained in Change Management, but I know a thing or two about it. Why? Because I've been at the root of a lot of technical change in organizations. In this clip, I explain to Griffin Lickfeldt (now a Microsoft MVP!) my extremely effective approach to change management. The clip is from episode 57 of #PowerTalks (hosted by Griffin): https://lnkd.in/enjAfUvB Are you in change management? What's your secret sauce? Would you endorse my process? Leave a comment below 👇🏿

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I don’t need a $500/hr consultant with a shiny deck. I need someone who walks into my warehouse and says: “Your WMS is bleeding profit.” “Your slotting strategy is killing efficiency.” “Your integrations look like they were duct-taped in 2008.” And no, a quick software patch won’t fix this. You don’t need a ‘supply chain advisor.’ You need a profit engineer. Someone that doesn't just plug into your chaos. Someone that rips out the bottlenecks, rebuilds the flows, rewires your systems, and unlocks millions you didn’t know were hiding in plain sight. It’s not just optimization. It’s transformation.

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Dynamics NAV users: Change isn’t just coming—it’s already here. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central offers the flexibility, automation, and visibility modern businesses need to stay competitive. If you’ve been putting off a migration from NAV, now’s the time to re-evaluate. In this article, we walk through: 🔍 The risks of staying on NAV 🧭 The benefits of moving to the cloud 🛠️ What a successful migration actually looks like If you're thinking about next steps, this is a must-read. Let’s shift from maintenance mode to growth mode. 👉 Explore the blog and get inspired to take the leap.

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I’ve been thinking about the early cloud ERP boom lately. Back then, projects moved fast. Budgets were easier. Everyone wanted to modernize yesterday. And if I’m being honest, I think the pace made it easy for the industry to focus more on go-live dates than long-term outcomes. Not intentionally. Just… momentum. Then the market slowed down. Clients started asking better questions. Expectations got sharper. “Going live” wasn’t the finish line anymore — it was the starting point. And honestly? That shift was good. It forced all of us to look at how we deliver. It reminded us that ERP isn’t a product you install — it’s a system companies depend on every single day. At Aarialife Technologies we’ve always believed the real work begins after go-live. Optimization. Adoption. Making sure the system actually supports growth. We’re not here to implement and disappear. We’re here to build something that still works three years from now. If you’re evaluating NetSuite, that’s the difference that really matters.

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The contractors who grow consistently have one thing in common: they know their numbers. I was with a contractor in Houghton, MI this week. They’re committed to growth, but here’s their challenge: •They have a lack of actual unit pricing or production data •Every bid package takes a ton of manual work •Hard to compete fast and accurate with their lack of systems and small estimating team What they’re realizing (and what I see often) is this: your ability to win the next job depends on how well you track this one. As they have started to dig into the root cause of how to solve this problem they recognized that just throwing in a new estimating and take off solution wouldn't solve the problem until they started to track their numbers. This means they have to adopt a project management tool to help get them out of spreadsheets and emails. If you’re not capturing production and cost data as you go, you’re just guessing when it’s time to bid. That guesswork kills margin and slows growth. The contractors who scale don’t just chase more work — they build field first systems that feed today’s numbers into tomorrow’s bids. #dirtworld #constructiontech

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We've hit the tipping point. AI just shifted from 'nice to have' to 'business critical' in supply chain operations. The 2025 Agility Index from Epicor and Nucleus Research backs this up with hard data: AI isn't sitting in some innovation lab anymore—it's driving real investment decisions across ops, hiring, and data strategy. I've been watching this space closely, and this feels like the moment we stop talking about AI pilots and start rebuilding supply chains around intelligence-first thinking. It's not about squeezing out another 2% efficiency. It's about fundamentally different supply chains that predict, adapt, and self-optimize. The companies getting this right now are the ones who'll own the next decade. #SupplyChain #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #DigitalTransformation #LogisticsTech #SupplyChainManagement #Innovation #FutureOfWork

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