Happenings September 27, 2024

    In this issue:

• National Day Spotlight
• ADP Special Offer
• GP’s Official End of Life
• ASWi Appreciation Lunch
• Events, Blogs, Movies
• Webinars, Community
• Points to Ponder

The purpose of a newsletter is an opportunity for the ASWi team to provide you and the rest of our clients with information on all the new ASWi an Acumatica related things (or “happenings”) that you may not otherwise be aware of.

Please feel free to share this newsletter with any/ all of your team. Pease let me know if anyone on your team who would like to be added to the mailing list for the next issue and removed.

You can always have a look at back issues of Happenings on ASWi’s web- site at: https://aswiblog.wpengine.com/category/customer-newsletters/

“Only stupid questions create wealth.” Gary Hamel

Curiosity doesn’t kill the cat. In fact, it’s a sign of courage, intelligence, and growth.

Embrace the unknown and ask away.

We’ve all done it: we had that question we wanted to ask that just sounds silly. We’re embarrassed that it even occurred to us, and worse, that we didn’t know the answer when it seemed so simple.

The truth is there is no such thing as a stupid question, except the one that you choose not to ask. We never learn anything if we’re afraid to ask the question to begin with, whether that’s by researching it or asking someone who might know.

Ask a Stupid Question Day encourages you to overcome your fear of sounding uneducated, and opening yourself to learning by asking your “stupidest” questions.

Q: What’s yellow and pear-shaped?
A: A pear.

Q: What happened to the guy who lit a fire in his canoe to keep warm?
A: He learned that you can’t have your kayak and heat it too.

Q: What do you call a boomerang that doesn’t come back ?
A: A stick.

Q: What’s an astronaut’s favorite part of a computer keyboard?
A: The Space bar.

Q: Why are elevator jokes so classic and good ?
A: Because they work on many different levels.

Q: Why do bees have sticky hair?
A: They use a honeycomb.

With Q4 starting next week (yikes!), this is the time of year when 1 in 4 of organizations will evaluate their Human Capital Management (HCM) vendor.

As part of that process, they will be benchmarking their current payroll/HR software to ensure peak optimization & efficiency in the New Year. If your organization is one of these teams that is evaluating a new HCM solution, ADP has rock-solid solutions and, as a special incentive for you to learn more about them, ADP is offering you any of the amazing gifts pictured at the top of this article as a “thank you” for doing so.

As one of ASWI’s valued clients, you have access to dedicated implementation and service teams at ADP, as well as additional discounts & benefits through our partnership.

If this is a priority over the next couple of months, we’d love to further explain how ADP’s capabilities could directly impact your organization and align you with the best resources / make sure the integration is set up properly.

Please contact our Customer Success Manager Keith Wood at keithw@aswius.com or (717) 581-1226 if you would like to learn more from our ADP partner manager Cassie Nelejdko about ADP’s HCM offerings.

On September 25, it was announced that Microsoft will end all product support and updates for Dynamics GP on September 30, 2029. Microsoft also said that security patches will end on April 30, 2031.

Microsoft’s official statement also says:

With advancements in technology and changing market dynamics, business leaders are looking at their operations tools now more than ever to stay competitive, drive growth, improve profitability and ensure long-term company success. Microsoft is committed to ensuring we offer robust and innovative solutions to meet these needs.

ASWi’s commitment to our customers currently using Microsoft Dynamics GP is that will continue to do what we can to support your Dynamics GP users and instance(s) while providing you with information and assistance to migrate to a new ERP, such as Acumatica Cloud ERP, that will meet your team’s needs and provide your team with the capabilities and ease of use that will provide them with Substantial Value that’s sustainable, scalable and systemic.

Please contact our Customer Success Manager Keith Wood at keithw@aswius.com or (717) 581-1226 if you would like to learn more about migrating from Microsoft Dynamics GP to Acumatica Cloud ERP.

We will be sponsoring an ASWi Customer Appreciation Lunch on Thursday, October 10th at The Oasis on Lake Travis from 11:00 am – 2:00 pm, with lunch being served at 12:00pm in the Sunset Villa. We invite all of our customers, whether you are in Central Texas or a little/lot further from The Oasis’ Austin, Texas location.

We would love to have you attend to meet more of the ASWi team and network with other ASWi clients who we provide Managed Services and/or ERP support to.

Please RSVP by contacting our Customer Success Manager Keith Wood at keithw@aswius.com or (717) 581-1226 and letting him know how many of your team will be attending.

By Bri Williams

Snails are brilliant

Snails are amazing, the way they lug their homes on their back.
It’s quite the balancing act:
• Too heavy a shell, they can’t move.
• Too flimsy, it doesn’t protect them, which curtails their freedom.

It’s a balancing act humans are subject to, as well. We’re constantly assessing what level of risk to carry before we compromise either freedom or safety.
• Yes, I can post on social media, but what if I attract hate?
• Yes, I can buy your services, but what if I don’t get results?
• Yes, I can promote you, but what if you take my job?

Knowing your customers and colleagues are grappling with this means you can get ahead of the issue. For instance, when you find they are slow in getting back to you or slow in making a decision, it might be worth reiterating they have nothing to fear if they do proceed. Lighten their shell and they’ll be able to move much faster.

Outcome bias
Outcome bias is our tendency to judge a decision by its eventual outcomes instead of the quality of the decision at the time it was made.
In other words, that decision you make today, feeling pressured or frustrated, will be judged without the benefit of context. No one will care what was happening to you or around you – they’ll only care how your decision turned out.

Two things to consider:
Next time you feel overwhelmed and uncertain about what to do, imagine yourself explaining your decision in a courtroom or to the press. Strangely, that may give you the perspective you need to make the best call.

Be kind to others when their decisions have turned out badly. It might have been the right decision given the context they were in. If you’re a leader, what can you do to make the decision making context a better one?

By Bri Williams

Sick of being told the status quo?

You know what I’m sick and tired of being told to do? Challenge the status quo!

It’s seen as a power move. Leaders do it. Heroes do it.Enshrined in vision statements and implored from the keynote stage, challenging the status quo is what we need to do to succeed, right?

Easy to say, hard to do.

Pointing to what needs to change or setting a vision for what a changed state looks like is the easy part – it’s hypothetical. Actually embedding change is a behavioral influence exercise, which requires significant time, money and effort.

One Empty Desk

When real estate legend Barbara Corcoran advertised for new staff in the competitive New York market, she wrote three simple words. “One empty desk”.
Not only did this differentiate hers from the pages of ads seeking “sales person”, it hit a major psychological button. Scarcity. In a world of content abundance and scant attention, how can you make what you do, who you are, scarce?

Don’t Do This

I share a lot of ideas about what you SHOULD do to influence behavior, but there are things you SHOULDN’T do, as well. Here are three things not to do, along with examples of each:

1. Make things pretty
Focus on making things effective, not pretty. Salience over esthetic.
Example: Following your company’s guidelines and making your website’s Call to Action button match the rest of the page will result in it not standing out to your prospective customers.

2. Normalize inaction
Don’t try to shame your prospective customers into taking action by normalizing inaction.
Example: “97% of Australians aren’t eating enough vegetables each day” will be received as “Great! If no one else is worried about this, I won’t both either.”

3. Don’t ask why
Instead, ask “What?”. “Why” questions result in our prospective customers to rationalize their actions/decisions. “What” questions provide you with context of their actions/decisions that you can react to.

Nearly every weekday, a motivational quote is posted on X/Twitter by @ASWiDelivered and on LinkedIn by @ASWi.

• “There is only one boss. The customer.” Sam Walton

• “You can do big things with a small team.” Jason Fried

• “Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness.” Scott Adams

• “When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait.” Paulo Coelho