One Fourth of July, I was visiting the National Mall to watch the fireworks display. I was surrounded by happy picnickers of all ages and ethnicities, everyone sitting on blankets with various feasts about them. Toddlers were stumbling onto neighboring blankets, chased by moms and dads. There were East Asian Indians with their curries, Carribeans with their meat patties, a couple on a romantic first date, and a boisterous group of college students. Everyone was enjoying the summer evening and glad the sun was finally setting, cooling the air and heightening the anticipation for the show to come. I felt proud to be an American in that melting pot of the National Mall where everyone was sitting on the same ground, side by side, with blankets and food and family and friends. We were all facing the same direction. I noticed a park ranger slowly making his way among all the blankets and people. I wondered, “Uh oh, is there some security concern? What is he saying to all these people? Is he looking for something?” Soon the park ranger was in our midst. He humbly announced, “Folks, the fireworks are going to go off over there,” and he pointed about 45 degrees from where we were all facing. “You might want to shift your blankets so you don’t miss the first fireworks.” He continued on his way, slowly shifting by 45 degrees all the Fourth of July revelers in our quadrant of the National Mall.
As a new-ish training specialist, and as a member of the Analysis Project Team, I am fascinated by how the adoption of Analysis is progressing. Analysis is the new front-end software that SAP clients need to learn to access the data in the Business Warehouse. The old software BEx is being retired. Financial Quality Control, Enterprise Business Solutions, training staff, and super users are like those park rangers, directing staff to adopt the new software. And the staff? Well, they’re shifting their blankets by 45 degrees to see the show.
