A touching story recently crossed my way and ever since I want to tell everyone about it. Not just because it’s about a great cause, but because it is an inspiring example of how everything we do could make a positive impact and reach others, often unknown people in need, in so many different and beautiful ways.
Here is how it started. For the update of the 2nd edition of Practical Workflow for SAP book, alan.rickayzen and jocelyn.dart handed over the content of the first book (and the royalty rights!) to the renowned expert and SAP PRESS author ginger.gatling. Then, they all teamed up with an impressive constellation of other SAP Business Workflow experts: susan.keohan, thomas.kosog, Erik Dick, oliver.hilss, somya.kapoor, Silvana Kempf, paul.medaille, mike.pokraka, shalini.sabnani, joern.sedlmayr, ted.sohn.
How it went on for Ginger and team:
“When we decided to update the 2nd edition of the Practical Workflow for SAP book there were 4 authors on the first book. For the 2nd edition we had 14 authors including SAP employees, customers, and partners. Our author team included only 2 of the original authors. We were very fortunate that jocelyn.dart and Alan Rickayzen (authors from the 1st edition) decided to participate in the 2nd edition.Their contribution was critical to the success of the 2nd edition!!
Jocelyn and Alan (http://www.workflowbook.com/blogger.htm) gave us an idea of the amount of the royalties we could earn for the book. We wanted to do the 2nd edition for the workflow community. The project was not intended to make money, but rather to ensure people had the information they needed to be successful with workflow.
We realized we could do more with the money as a group rather than dividing it up. We knew the agency needed to be global, non-political, and something that our diverse author group could support (authors are from US, UK, Australia, Germany). We tried some agencies, but realized it was harder than we thought to have the rights to use their logo in the book. The SCN group mentioned they are working with Doctors Without Borders. We contacted them and they were very happy to receive our donation, sent us their logo and paragraph we could include in the book.”
The workflow book is often on the top 10 best selling list at SAP Press, between the 1st and 2nd editions, is one of the top selling books of all time at SAP Press. But what’s most striking is its human value. And how all these people teamed up sharing their SAP knowledge to benefit more than just technology and business. So far more than US$26,000 have been donated to Doctors Without Borders and that’s not the end.
Follow the authors on SCN and let them know if you are touched, impressed or motivated by their example. We hope this will inspire you to support more what you love.
Want more: read Kristine Erickson’s Four causes your colleagues want you to know about on the Insider Learning Network.
Special thanks to my Mentors jocelyn.dart and ginger.gatling for the opportunity to share this story with you.
I believe good examples are always uplifting, so I look forward to hearing from you in the comments about your ways to make a difference and generate positive impact in your family, community or at work!
Stay well!
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