A talk to the MCT Day Zero. It covers some of the things that can go wrong in the life of a trainer and some things you can do to mitigate the problems!

1. Coping With Murphy’s
Law
Thomas Lee
tfl@psp.co.uk

2. Who am I
• MCT – 19 years
• MVP – 17 of past 18 years
• Author - PowerShell Bible
• Experienced with Murphy’s Law
and the consequences thereof

3. Murphy’s Law
• Anything that can go wrong, will
go wrong

4. Mrs. Murphy’s Corollary
• Murphy’s was an optimist

5. The Boy Scout’s Motto
• Be Prepared!
• Expect the worst, hope for a lot
better

6. Variations on a Theme
• The Contract
• Travel
• Accommodation
• The CPLS
• The MOC
• The Students
• Getting Back Home

7. The Contract
• Brokers and CPLSs are NOT your
friend
– They are businesses with lawyers
– Their contracts protect THEM
• You get what you negotiate
– Or – you get what they want if you
don’t
• Haggle
– Be flexible

8. Contract vs PO
• A PO and a contract are not
always the same thing
• Unless you have a signed and
authorised PO, you do not have
a gig
– And you will not get paid
• Ensure your payment terms are
spelt out somewhere

9. Travelling
• Sooner or later you will:
– Have a flight cancelled
– Discover there’s a strike
– Land in the wrong city
– Loose your bags
– Get robbed/mugged or worse

10. Travelling
• Amex may be expensive
– But they can be a life saver
• Get into a frequent flyer/guest programme
– Get rewarded for your pain
– “Gold’ Members trump the hoi polli
• Pay for forward cabins
• Know your airline/train schedules
– Always have a Plan B
• Google your destination and have maps
– Not all cab drivers speak your language (even in
your home country)

11. Travelling (2)
• Get to the airport early
– Sometimes you can catch an
earlier flight
– The sooner you know, the sooner
they can fix things
– Airplanes leave when they
leave, not when you get there
– Know the free wireless areas!
– Did you pack the power
Converter/phone USB cable?

12. Accommodation
• Check the room/hotel before you
leave
• Be prepared to refuse a room
• Ask for an upgrade if possible
• Be VERY nice to the checkin staff
• Avoid cheap hotels
– Sometimes you get what you pay for

13. The CPLS
• Know where they or their
customer are
– Their address may not be where
the course it
• If they are new to you
– Check them out for things like
payment terms, conditions etc.

14. Work With the CPLS
• Their success is their success
• Get to know and work with their
sales staff
• If you help sell the course, it’s
Assume nothing!
yours to run:
– on at least some of your terms
• Identify extra opportunities
arising from the class

15. The Course
• What are you really teaching today?
– Negotiate with the class
• Some MOC is good, but some MOC
isn’t
– Live with it and execute Plan B
• With good MOC, you have an easy life
– Enjoy it and let your enjoyment infect the
audience
• No matter how crap the MOC, the event
should be outstanding
• Own the course

16. Training
Dealing with Crap MOC Material
• Have demos, hand outs,
goodies, blog posts, etc.
• Create a web portal for the
subject nothing!
Assume
• Have a library of related slides
WITH YOU
• It should be obvious – know the
technical stuff

17. Assume Nothing
Assume
Ass u me

18. In the classroom
• Machines break
• Hard disks fail
• Memory sticks go wonky
• Have cloud backup
– DropBox
(http://db.tt/qs3ZY65)
– MSFT’s SkyDrive
– Consider encryption

19. The Students
• Half of the students are below
average
– Work with that
• Some don’t want to be there
– If so, establish that ASAP and let
them go do their own thing
• Some students know it all
– Always have a question very few
people really know the answer to
– But avoid alienation

20. The Students
• Some students are great!
• Some will challenge you
– Avoid over demanding ones
• Some will become life-long
friends
• Know what a diabetic hypo
looks like
• You can’t please all of the
people all of the time

21. Evaluation Time
• Student attitude affects the
evaluation
• Side issues can hit you
– Hardware/software
– Heating/light
– Food
• Bribery works

22. Heading Home
• Warn a CPLS of any class issues
as early as possible
• Get anything you need to get paid
signed off before you exit
• Collect your invoices/receipts
• Bill promptly
• Chase ruthlessly but politely
• Know the person who cuts your
cheque

23. In Summary
• Things happen
• Have a plan with how to deal
with every eventuality
• You are not alone