Tacos, Tequilas, and Teamwork: SAP Social Sabbatical in Mexico City
Everything they said about the SAP Social Sabbatical (SoSa) is true.
It’s gonna change your life, they said. You will learn so much more about yourself, they said. Goodbyes will be heartbreaking, they said.
After a month at Mexico City, all of the above, I say.
Plus a little more.
Early in July, I received the email that I had been waiting for. I was one of the 12 participants shortlisted to travel to Mexico City to work with a non-profit enterprise and improve their social impact by solving concrete challenges. The team of 12 is divided into four sub teams and each sub team works with a different organization trying to tackle a specific set of challenges.
Mexico is a wonderful blend of the modern and the traditional. We arrived a month before the Día de Muerto (Day of the dead) and it was impossible to escape the beauty and glory of the unending array of calaveras (skulls), offrendas (decorative altars), and alebrijes (spirit animals). We stepped right into a live set of Spectre.
The interesting part is that the party continues beyond that — Mexicans are just as colorful in their daily lives: big, tight, and warm hugs, loud laughter, incessant energy. You’d think that the social entrepreneurs that our team worked with would show the corporate seriousness that we associate with CxOs and business heads — but no, each one is a bundle of energy — Gaby from PAUTA, Juan from Socialab, Jorge from Prison Art, and Malu from nuup — they all come with the same unbridled enthusiasm, open arms and open hearts, and offer you such hospitality that you forget how far away you are from home!
Each organization has its own set of unique problems, and while trying to help them improve their business processes, or make recommendations, we dug into a reservoir of ideas and solutions that we did not know existed! I talk for my sub team when I say that each one of us worked with tools, and methodologies that we had never used before. We surprised ourselves, and the experience made us realize that no problem is big if we put our heads together as a team.
Every week our team would meet to discuss the progress, problems, and possible solutions. I personally feel that these meetings contributed as much to our personal and professional growth, as to the specific challenges that the sub teams faced in their individual projects. It was a wonderful sounding board where we could set aside our egos, own up to our mistakes and shortcomings, and openly ask for help — how comfortable and easy that felt! There was no judging, no stupid questions. There was only the desire to work towards the common goal of helping the world run better and improve people’s lives. It did not matter that we worked for four different projects. The differences assimilated in the meeting room. We all represented SAP and wanted to make a difference as a unified whole. Our team consisted of experts from all backgrounds with varying degrees of experiences and the collective talent pool was enough to solve all the issues our host clients had.
Every weekly meeting would be followed by a movie where we brushed up on our knowledge of local culture, watching Coco, Frida, and Roma respectively. What a fun way to learn! These check-in meets were also the times we finalized our weekend plans and go as a group to see the pyramids, eat grasshopper pizzas, or scream during wrestling matches. The camaraderie kept us sane.
As I look back, I wonder where I had reserved all this energy! The mornings were spent at the client’s location, the evenings looking for tacos or tequilas, or both, and the weekends visiting the numerous touristic places, or simply walking down the streets discovering the beautiful city we all fell in love with! The best part is that we did every single thing as a team. And that probably, is my biggest takeaway. It just felt so natural!
At SAP, we say that customers come first, but in Mexico city, we lived it. We could see how small organizations, with a handful of people, and humongous dreams, battle it out every single day because of the passion to make a difference. No impediment is daunting enough to stop the show. There is no room for whining. You. Consistently. Deliver. #nowhining is the new mantra for us.
The Social Sabbatical Program fuses four of the things I love the most -– travel, foreign culture, making a difference, and SAP. However, it is so much more than that. There is an excitement in pushing our limits and going for the unknown. The experience of living in a different country for a month, with 11 people I hadn’t met, and solving problems that I was not even aware of scared and thrilled me equally. But this trial by fire showed me my mettle. And that is the discovery that I am most stoked about.
It’s been four days since I am back to Bangalore, and I find myself messaging my SoSa family at wee hours in the morning because I am still stuck in the Mexican time zone. But I ain’t complaining.
Life as I knew before SoSa has ceased to exist. And it brings a smile to my face.
