Dispatches from the New World of Work

The Boss

Off to see Bruce Springsteen tonight—68,000 of us stuffed into Gillette Stadium. Thunderstorms predicted. Let you know how it all turns out on Monday.

A.SAD

What could be a better welcome home (from Korea, Mexico, Croatia, Argentina) gift than Susan's Peonies in bloom.

But there's a catch—only in Vermont. (Or perhaps, also Nome, Alaska.) That is, I realized that this time next week the days will have begun to get shorter. Hence, I am suffering A.SAD. That is ... Anticipatory Seasonal Affective Disorder.

As I said, only in VT!

Event: Korea Design Forum

Tom is keynoting (for three hours) the Korea Design Forum 2008 in Seoul. He tells us that Korea is making a concerted push, as a nation, to become a "Worldclass Design Hub," following the sort of value-added strategy that Tom has participated in before, in places such as New Zealand and Taiwan. Check out the first ten slides. Together, they amount to a new Design Manifesto, drafted (according to Tom) between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. (?!) Korean time.

You can get the PPT here: Korea Design Forum, Seoul

25E, 62

Spent a couple of days in D.C. last week. Saturday (before Mother's Day) bright and sunny. Long walk.

Georgetown, C & O (Chesapeake & Ohio) Canal. America's Internet 2.0. (Arguably the Pony Express was Internet 1.0. Or was it pamphleteering surrounding the buildup to the Revolutionary War?)

Far end of Memorial Bridge, Seabee Memorial. "Seabee" from "CB"—U.S. Naval Mobile Construction Battalion. Navy combat contractors, born in World War II, first notable service at Guadalcanal. Sailors recruited directly from the Union halls. Motto: "Can do." (John Wayne made a Seabee movie. Sailors in "South Pacific," subject of a current Broadway revival, were Seabees.) (Yrs truly served with them in Vietnam—I stop by, pat the marble, salute, and say hello to old friends.)

Vietnam Memorial. Over 58,000 names, listed in chron order—from 1958 to 1975. Many visitors last Saturday. Mothers of "the names"?

Waterproof book with all the names, locations. Youngster looking for name, granddad?—typical rubbing.

Names.

Recent tribute. Dozens each day. In fact, one soldier's family left his Harley at The Wall. (Gov't keeps all stuff—not available for public viewing.)

25E, 62. East 25 [each wall section is numbered], line 62 [up to you to count]. LT David C. Hall, USA. College roommate.

How many of ours died in Vietnam? One answer is: 112 "Halls" alone.

Godspeed, Dave.

Spring 2008 on the Farm/Vermont

Cathy has been bugging me for spring-on-the-farm pictures from VT. Herewith are four:

(1) the chickens are out and about

(2) the tulips are finally blooming

(3) new porch furniture—it's warm enough to move outdoors

(4) construction of Susan's new studio

Happy Spring! (I know it's almost over for some of you—we're just gearing up. And, of course, for others of you south of the Equator, winter is just around the corner in our "little" "global village.")

PNC Financial Services Group

On this day of global market madness, I'm in Pittsburgh talking to leaders at PNC Financial Services Group. At first blush, "Ouch" would seem to be the order of the day. But hold on. First, through good sense or good luck or both, PNC's subprime exposure is minimal. Moreover, the company has a bushel of awards that distinguish them as far different from banking's mindless conglomerators. PNC is a 2007 "BusinessWeek 50" top performing company, on Fortune's "Most Admired" list, on numerous other lists such as "Best Companies for Working Mothers," "Top 10 Companies for African-Americans," "Top 50 Employers for Women," "CIO 100 for Technology Excellence," etc. So, why do they need me? Beats me, but I'll do my best to roil the waters here and there.

[Slides are here.—CM]

The Cultured Spanish and the Joy of Day #27!

Speaking in Madrid today for HSM one more time. You'll find 4 PPs. One is the "Long" version of the Keynote. Next, the Main Event keynote. Then, two shorter presentations for a couple of company presentations to Ferrovial [PPT] (infrastructure—including, God help us all, Heathrow) and Starcom [PPT] (a media-creative services giant). The 28-day trip ends Tuesday, with a little help from Lufthansa. Should be fun getting questioned by Immigration. Here will be my answer to "What countries did you visit?"

Boston
United Kingdom-England
Spain
Argentina
Germany
Switzerland
Germany
Italy
Belgium-Flanders
Spain-Catalonia
Portugal
Spain
Germany
Boston

Planned to "pop into" the Prado, my favorite museum in the world—my hotel room only 50 yards away. Line when I arrived Saturday was, I'd judge, almost a quarter-mile long, and I don't think I'm exaggerating. Sunday, my last chance, was the same by about 11 a.m. So, on the advice of the concierge, adding a little of my usual conservatism, I got in the queue at 8 a.m. Sunday for a 9 a.m. opening. I'd guess I was about #150. The problem was that it was colder (about 25°F, -4°C) in Madrid than in VT; but I persisted, despite totally inadequate clothes. I'm used to Madrid at 95°F, +35°C, its summer #. Net was, it was, as always, worth it. (I once flew from SF to Madrid and back to see one picture here—Brueghel's "The Triumph of Death." I'm sure that'll draw Comments. Never done anything comparable before or since.) At any rate, above and below are a couple of crowd pics at 6 p.m. Sunday, a mix of tourists, including a ton of Japanese, but mostly locals, including a heavy youth component. Hats off to the Spanish for Museo Del Prado's just-completed renovation and for the popularity of the museum.

("Public" thanks for getting me through "all this" to, especially, Abbey Bishop, Nancy Paul, Klair Sirianna, Ivy Gustafson, the inimitable Harry "He Da Man" Rhoads; and Cathy Mosca, Erik Hansen, and Shelley Dolley for keeping the Blog up to date. A special debt of gratitude to the Interpreters here, there, and everywhere, whose job when I'm racing and colloquial, approximately always, is much harder than mine!)

Apologies!

Twenty-five days, nine countries, and 19 presentations into my current trip ... I'm zonked. Hence my delay in posting my Lisbon presentation. Belatedly, here it is—from Lisbon, with HSM as organizers, and pal Tom Kelley once more as my partner.

Bologna 11.09.07

Sorry! Belated posting of my PowerPoint for Mind Consulting in Bologna. The audience was "SMEs"—folks from small and medium-sized enterprises, lots of owners. Loved it! (SME execs, worldwide, take no crap. As I said, love it!) Susan and I came to Bologna after spending my birthday in Venice. We loved Bologna, especially Saint Stephano's church; but the pictures above and below are from our magical sojourn in Venice!

"Guru Gaffes"

In Brussels at the moment, getting ready for a speech today. (Snowed last night. Very, very light—but snow nonetheless.) I put together yet another "master"—built around a dozen Big Things "we" "gurus" typically get wrong; I called it "Guru Gaffes." It is by far the most highly annotated presentation I have ever provided—hope that meets with your satisfaction. (Let me know!) Pictures from Brussels above and below—above, World War I memorial; below typical Eurocrat office facade—the centerpiece of Brussels, home of the EU!

And How Was Your Week?

I am not complaining—I've enjoyed my various engagements in the past 7 days. (It's the people, stupid! Everywhere! I feed off them with what seems to be an insatiable appetite.) On the other hand, I guess I'm not surprised that I've been falling asleep in various poses, then snapping out of it a few minutes to an hour later in exactly the same position in which I faded out. In the 8 days that encompassed Saturday through Saturday last, I've given nine seminar-presentations in three countries—marked by 27 hours with the lapel mic in the "on" mode. (Plus a number of media interviews, some, well, interminable—I'll go on forever if the interviewer is well prepared, but I am a bit testy when it's clear the interviewer hasn't done any prep.) Travel was: Tupelo to Memphis to Boston to London to Madrid to Buenos Aires to Frankfurt to Zurich; it encompassed 40 hours in the air and it appears 25,000 miles ... or so. (Lufthansa, as usual, takes the honors.) And all this during the week before my 65th birthday—I think a shrink might argue that I was trying to prove something to myself. Susan would argue that I did, indeed, prove it—that I'm an idiot. I, of course, will reserve judgment. I slept in Sunday in Zurich, then enjoyed a looooong walk through and around this lovely city—zonked or not, it is a privilege of the first order to have such opportunities! (And, yes, the Swiss are tidy—I don't even think the pigeons are allowed to poop.) Now in the midst of prep for a 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. seminar ("all day" in my lingo).

(Above, a gorgeous Japanese maple on the hotel grounds—in full fall farewell plumage. Below, street vendor roasting chestnuts—Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich.)

Event: FEMSA

I am finishing my 2-day stint with HSM in Buenos Aires. The "speech du jour" is to executives of FEMSA. The enormous consumer goods company, headquartered in Mexico, is, among many other things, the second largest Coca-Cola bottler in the world. Tonight: Back to Europe, more specifically, Zurich.

[The link for the PPT slides is below.—CM]
FEMSA, Buenos Aires

Back "Home"!

I do love London and feel fully at home; I've been coming over here since serving a summer stint as a midshipman in the Royal Navy in 1965. I gave two speeches at the London Business Forum today, and have another two ticketed tomorrow. How I made it through, I don't know. Though still suffering bigtime from jetlag, I nonetheless stayed up, tracking every pitch in Game 4 of the World Series—Jonathan Papelbon's capper occurred at 4:08 a.m. Greenwich time, just 37 minutes before my wake-up call. It's a long way from my new Kubota in Tinmouth, VT, to the shop windows of London being dressed on Sunday—see above.

North Mississippi Medical Center Rules!

I'm in Tupelo, Mississippi, today, courtesy the North Mississippi Medical Center. Among (many!) other things, NMMC is a 2006 recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award—the "Nobel Prize of Enterprise Excellence," as one observer put it.

Now, NMMC is stepping boldly forward with an innovative health education program aimed at children in general and childhood obesity in particular. (Our HHS secretary described it as a problem that is worse than terrorism.) Called "HealthWorks," and modeled after a pioneering program invented by Memorial Hospital of South Bend, Indiana (skip the Notre Dame football quips, please), the program aims to rock the world—and, God knows, we need it.

I am speaking to several groups here, from the medical center and the community at large, and despite the cold (Tupelo is colder than Boston today), having a great time—Southern Hospitality matched with Olympian Aspirations of Excellence.

[You can get the PPT presentations with the links below.—CM]
North Mississippi Medical Center
Excellence. Always. Tupelo, MS
Excellence. Always. Tupelo, MS, Long

No-No.
(As You Know.)

In Korea last week I had a long discussion with a BigCo CEO about the Japanese and Chinese (and Koreans). While I think I passed the implicit test, I was reminded of the obvious: We far too often spout utterly useless words like "European" or "Asian." Maybe the Chinese and Japanese and Koreans share skin tint to some extent, but otherwise they have about as much in common as America and Albania and Afghanistan. Well, that's hardly the case, but you know what I mean.

Implication: Eliminate the use of terms such as "Asia"—as in "the Asian management style." Eliminate: as in zero, none, never, naught, zip.

Event! World Knowledge Forum

I had the privilege today of speaking at the opening plenary session of the 8th annual World Knowledge Forum in Seoul. My fascinating position in the lineup was immediately after Colin Powell, who keynoted, and immediately before Philip Rosedale, founder-creator of Second Life/Linden Lab. (I had to wonder if I was just a space bar between the two.) In any event, the meeting has a lineup that rivals that of Davos—and it's a lot more fun to be doing this in Seoul, where, despite the looming nuclear neighbor to the north, there is an "Asian optimism" missing in the rest of the world. I was lit up by the whole thing. But my afternoon actually topped my morning—my 3rd and last speech of the day was to several hundred students. Such groups lift the heart—but they're also stressful; young women and young men will not tolerate the bullshit that their elders, unfortunately, often become immune to. Back to VT tomorrow—long flights but worth it.

(Incidentally, I'd be hard pressed to adequately express the warm feelings I have for General Powell. He is, through and through, a remarkable person—and a million million miles from being full of himself, unlike many of his peers with whom I've had similar dealings.)

Ciao, Sydney

I love Sydney. I ended my stay with a 2-hour powerwalk in one of my favorite venues anywhere in the world—the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain. Above you'll see one of the gardens' century plants in bloom—they can grow several feet in a day when they explode from their dormancy. (I thought one was an intruder years ago, when it appeared instantly outside the window of my San Francisco house.) Below "the mother of all trees."

I Left My Heart in San Francisco

Speaking to Taleo today—an SF-based software company that provides sophisticated stuff to abet Talent acquisition, development, productivity enhancement, and retention. E.g., it takes about $100,000 to recruit an employee, and $500,000 to find and train a replacement. (LONG and FINAL versions of slides attached.) Above and below you'll see a couple of slices of my favorite city in the world (along with London). An "Uncle Vito's" "restaurant" is as SF as the Golden Gate—though I can assure you that San Franciscans didn't name the street—see the sign—after the current resident of the shack at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Below is one of the premier reasons for my love affair with San Francisco—incredible diversity; not so many cities with dispensers of the Philippine News, I'd judge.

Kenya 2007

Kenya, per my analysis, was the SIXTY-FOURTH country in which I have been lucky enough to present. And to say "the best of the lot" would be an insult to my many wonderful hosts, from OMAN to MAURITIUS to NEW ZEALAND to SIBERIA. But I'm tempted. I have rarely, if ever, had such a warm welcome (to Susan & me); I have rarely, if ever, had such wonderful interactions with seminar participants. So I'll simply send along the slides—and offer a hearty "thanks and Godspeed" to my new friends from Nairobi, et al. (See you soon, I hope.)

[Slides from the event in Nairobi, where Tom spoke to close to 500 clients comprised of CEOs and top management who are clients of KPMG Training Solutions, are available with the links below.—CM]
Excellence. Always. Section One, KPMG, Nairobi
Excellence. Always. Section Two, KPMG, Nairobi

On Walkabout

I'm heading to Africa tomorrow for walkabout in Botswana and a seminar in Kenya. Be back, God willing (hey, they're beheading folks in Nairobi), in 2 weeks.

231

My GRP yesterday was three. That is, Gross Rock Product. I've been clearing hiking trails on the Farm, and specifically clearing around gorgeous boulders on Tinmouth Mountain. Today I eked out 3 hours of hard labor—and revealed, sort of "Zen-like," three spectacular boulders, the largest of which was 6 X 12 X 8 feet. Hence a Gross Rock Product of three.

As I headed for a long hot shower that I hoped would reduce my back pain to mere agony, I thought about home writ large, Tinmouth Mountain, Vermont, and the United States of America—and our 231st July Fourth. I/we are lucky—300 million lucky dudes—rancor shadowing Iraq notwithstanding. The Freedoms I "automatically" express and enjoy on my Farm and in my professional life are truly amazing, especially if your reference point is a scant 250 years ago—as I mentioned in a recent Post, I'm reading about the history of the idea of freedom per se. For me, born in 1942, I am also reminded on 4 July of the state of terror that existed in the world when I arrived—i.e., Holocaust and human butchery in general were in full swing.

Hence, putting the likes of Middle Eastern madness and views about this year's decisions by the Supremes aside for 24 hours, we have much to be thankful for, much to be worthy of a hot dog with catsup lathered with reckless disregard of its effect on post-July Fourth girth.

Back to the rocks ...

FYI

I enjoyed myself beyond measure, but I had one helluva first six months of 2007. With brutal abandon, I simply piled up too damn many frequent flyer miles. I will mostly be on my beloved Vermont farm for the next five or so weeks—pursuing as nasty a manual labor schedule as my physical self can take. (And loafing—i.e., reading.) Work "of the head" will be minimal, unless I talk myself into one of several pending writing projects, which I hope I don't.

The upshot is that my Posts will be sporadic—and the posting of PowerPoint presentations nil. (NB: I've spent the first three very intense "days off" learning Microsoft Office 2007—which has #%$^ all in common with the '97–'03 version; I successfully side-stepped Vista, only to be fully ensnared by its cousin. Hint: I am in a very bad mood.)

When I'm 64!

Okay, it's actually 63. That is, the 63rd birthday of the Allies' start of the bloody process of liberating France. Alas, I'd forgotten until, while on my run in Georgetown on the ancient C&O Canal Towpath (a 70 or 80 mile trek in full), I saw French, American, and British flags on a tiny shop front. The owner, with curlers in her hair, almost shouted "Thank you, America" as I passed with a Navy hat on. (Haven't gotten anything but grief-vitriol overseas as an American of late*—so it came as a shock.) Anyway, she is very, very French, and has had her shop for about 15 years; she topped things off with an invitation to stop by in the afternoon for champagne.

Hats off to our Normandy vets, now all in their 80s, from the U.S., Canada, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, etc.—brave members of a true "coalition of the willing."

*In the past, overseas, I've observed dismay at the resident of 1600 PA Ave. But this time it's inclusive—we are all getting grief.

Mauritius & Memorial Day

Alas, Memorial Day finds me on the road. Then again, there are a lot of our troops on the road today as well. My thoughts go to everyone who is serving, but especially to those in Iraq and Afghanistan. And a particularly special thought is aimed at Keith Bishop, husband of our Abbey Bishop. Thanks, Keith.

It seems odd to combine thoughts of Iraq and beautiful Mauritius. But it's where I was, and you'll see a bit of it above and below. Note the lovely (to me) old boat that also served its time, and no doubt with distinction.

As wealth grows in India and the Middle East, and as Boomer restlessness accelerates from every corner of the globe, Mauritius stands poised to become a primo travel destination. Middle Eastern investment money is already flowing in, full tilt.

(Am in Göteborg, Sweden, as I write.)

Johnny U

Only for an ESPN seminar could I scrap the tie and show up with a Johnny Unitas shirt and [Washington] Nats hat. Above and below, the next day re-construction, courtesy Abbey Bishop.

Pompeii: Second Photo

Tom's caption from yesterday, repeated below, was supposed to go with the photo above. Now we see what he means.

[T.T.D./Things To Do: Run like hell when the volcano pops ... a lesson from my recent visit to Pompeii.—TP]

Pompeii: First Photo

[T.T.D./Things To Do: Run like hell when the volcano pops ... a lesson from my recent visit to Pompeii/see photo above.]

Tough Trekking!

Susan and I spent 3 days in New Zealand on the fabled Routeburn Track, arguably one of the world's great treks. (She was antelope, I was ... whatever.) I'd say "I couldn't have made it without my trusty Leki pole," but as you'll see below (photo credit to Susan Sargent), it let me down mid-trek. We've reported it to the manufacturer.

President's Day 2007 Post #1

As we celebrate President's Day, it seems appropriate to look back at 09/11, courtesy my New Zealand trip. On 0211, we were in Christchurch, heading home. On a short walk, I spotted an odd sculpture on the street. Turns out, see above pic, that it is a tribute to 09/11's firefighters; moreover, it is made of twisted beams from the Twin Towers—sent by request to NZ's Christchurch firefighters. The next morning, on more or less the same walk, I came to realize that the memorial was but a block from the HQ of the Christchurch firefighters battalion. Though it was 6 a.m. (light in NZ!), I decided to knock on the door, figuring that the HQ would be manned 24/7. Indeed it was, and I spent an emotional 15 minutes thanking, as a U.S. visitor, the firefighter who answered the door and, via him, his colleagues for their thoughtfulness. Fact is, I was to my surprise in tears for most of the conversation—as (good God) I am as I type this. The memorial is one of just five such artifacts in the world. In 2002, Christchurch was hosting the world firefighters games (their Olympics); since they were the first such games since 09/11, Christchurch decided that a memorial was in order—and NYC cooperated, as you can see.

Commander Kurt Wendelken, SC, USN, was seconded to CENTCOM's HQ in the Middle East. We have been irregularly corresponding—which started with the tompeters.com Blog. Kurt recently honored me with a CENTCOM soldier's cap, with my name inscribed in English and Arabic. As you'll see below, I posed with the cap—photo credit to Abbey Bishop, our VT major domo. I figure it's not dishonorable for me to don the cap, in part because I was a ground fighter (builder-fighter working with the USMC) in I Corps Vietnam in 1966–68.

P-day should remind us all, regardless of present turmoil, what the 207-year-old U.S. experiment is all about.

Life 101

See pictures above and below:

Top: attacked (no exaggeration—it happens) by a sea lion on Stewart Island, NZ, on February 10—I was in his space, and he wanted to nap on the beach after ingesting a large fish (and, yes, I was that close—no telephoto lens!).

Bottom: Home in VT, February 14—2.5 feet of snow, temp minus 4º F., wind gusting to 40 mph.

(More NZ commentary-pics to follow.)

Those Sand Flies

Powered by Audioblog.com

Tom reads some poems about rain and sand flies. (Apparently an abundance of both at this time.)
2 minutes, 26 seconds.

MP3 File

Old & Old

In California, the story goes, anything over 50 years of age merits the title "antiquity"—I suppose that includes me! On the East Coast the # is more like 100 to 150 years. (Of course, that blithely ignores the fabulous Spanish settlements in what became California—that pre-date by 100 years the Pilgrims not landing at Plymouth Rock in 1620.)

But that's not my point.

My point is ... Athens. It is, yes, bizarre and wonderful—in a nondescript square, one casually comes upon a little sign tacked to a wall: "Façade of Hadrian's Reservoir."

Now that's antiquity!

(Sorry—no photo. I forgot my camera on that walk, but I did take a note.)

Back on the Road

Off today for 5 weeks. Greece-Saudi Arabia-San Francisco for the next 14 days (4 seminars), followed by nearly 3 weeks of New Zealand summer hiking, including the Routeburn Track. I'll be silent during the NZ sojourn—no computer allowed, by direct order (including inspection) of my dearly beloved spouse. (She has a point.)

Lucky Fella!

The air travel wearies. The hotel room same-same deadens the soul. The "nights away" add up and up. But ...

Call it self-indulgent if you must. But as a small gift to myself I just went through my entire 226-slide deck of photos at Flickr.

What a lucky fella!

Siberia.
Mauritius.
Dubai.
Oman.
Rome at Easter.
Istanbul.
Sweden.
London.
Paris.
Bucharest/Romania.
Amsterdam.
Barcelona.
Madrid & Madrid & Madrid.
Seoul.
Kuala Lumpur.
Bangkok.
Gabarone/Botswana.
J'burg.
Brazil.
Mexico.
Adelaide.
Etc.
Etc.

And L.A. and Mackinac Island and Maine and Atlanta and Wichita and ...
And Orlando & Orlando & Las Vegas & Las Vegas ...

Packed into 12 months, 33 of 65 events outside the U.S., a lifetime's worth of experiences and new friends and opportunities to spread the word about startling new ways to work and serve and shape a "career" worth savoring.

Yup, one lucky fella!

Tom 2002-2006: What's [Been] Up?

"What's Tom been up to?" is a question I am often asked. I thought it was a good question, and that "beats me" was a lousy answer. So Abbey and Cathy and I pulled together the attached general & specific analysis of the last five years (including, God willing, the rest of 2006). We'll also Post it under "Tom's Bio and PR" (in the nav menu on the left).

Eastern Flyway Magic

Back "home" (Annapolis, where I grew up) for a wedding this past Saturday. Spent the preceding and following nights in Oxford, MD, heart of the "Eastern Shore" (of the Chesapeake). Little sleep due to the deafening sound of Canadian Geese headin' south. The Eastern Shore flyway is one of the most important eastern migratory stops—and the migration is an amazing and moving sight to witness. In a couple of weeks, I think, there will be millions of our feathered friends parking here.

The picture above is "morning in Oxford on the Tred Avon River;" below is an oyster boat, with tongs, berthed at Tilghman Island. (A couple more pics are at Flickr, including one of the rare bits of humor, from an Eastern Shore political poster, surrounding the upcoming election.)

No Pictures!

When I got back from my seminar in Barcelona, the dusk was approaching. I quickly changed and hit the streets—in search of Gaudi. I did the "male thing" ... and refused to ask for help. Hence, both I and my Sony DSC-11 zeroed out.

Alas.

(Guess I'll have to come back. Which is a great idea.)

Life on the Road

Heathrow. Lounge. 6A.M. 15 October 2006. "Couldn't get any better than this."—yeah, right.

Columbus Day+

Susan and I spent the Columbus Day weekend about 1/3rd of the way up the gorgeous Maine Coast—in particular Monhegan Island. (It was my first trip up the Maine Coast—more to come!) Picture appended—plus VT leaf season to which we returned! (Additional pictures are at Flickr.)

More Bikes

We posted a bike photo on Wednesday from Copenhagen, but then Tom took another, and we like this one so much that we're giving it a blog entry of its own. In addition, here's a link to the large sized original.

Have I Got 'Em All?

Perhaps surprisingly, this is my first visit to Puerto Rico. It may be "epic" for me. I think this finishes my Tour de U.S.A.+ ... I've been to all 50 states, the Trust Territories of the Pacific (Guam, 1966, on the way to Vietnam), the U.S. Virgin Islands (swiped from Churchill in exchange for a few rusting Destroyers), and now Puerto Rico.

Do we have sovereignty over anybody else? (Iraq doesn't count!)

Exhausted But Happy ...

In the last two weeks I've been to Australia and back and to South Korea (I head to Vermont in about five hours). My 3-seminar stay in Seoul ended with a Bang. I spoke in the Olympic wrestling venue to 3,000+ folks. That was great ... but the real "out of the park" treat was that two-thirds were under 30, and about 50% under 25 (or so my rather practiced eye says). It is sooooooooooooooooo great to speak to "tomorrow" instead of "yesterday." The obligation is enormous, of course. I think we had a great exchange—and we also had a lot of laughs. (You must laugh a lot when you're being serious.)

The "laughs" are the byproduct of at least three things, all important. First and foremost, BRILLIANT interpreters!!! If you are "playing with" humor in somebody else's culture the nuance and timing must be EXACTLY right. (On top of that, no matter how hard I try to do otherwise, I talk fast. Though I am pretty good at purging the American colloquialisms.)

The second thing is a slap at conventional wisdom concerning an age-old issue. I totally believe in "sensitivity" (to the extreme) concerning "cultural differences." On the other hand, I fervently believe that the first 99% of "effective cross-cultural communication" is all about one's humanity. I do pretty well, or even better than that. And that seems to be as true in Saudi and Siberia as in Seoul. I am sure it is mostly because I "get off on people." I just love hanging out with folks at home and away—and trying to connect my passions with their lives and issues. If you truly love people, then the "cross-cultural conundrums" will mostly disappear. (Among many other things, there's a Great Big Message here concerning the selection of people for "foreign" assignments.)

Third, an old saw that is true, you must be comfortable with yourself! This young group, for instance, energized (at least for three hours) an exhausted carcass (me). Though the crowd was 3,000 and "foreign"—I felt (I do not exaggerate) engaged, as fully engaged a human being as in an energetic one-on-one discussion in my Vermont farmhouse. I felt among friends—and we acted accordingly. We laughed and wept (metaphorically) as we talked about the Crazy Old World—and how valuable and joyful our life's work might be. Simply put, you can't do that if you are constantly "looking over your shoulder" at various gremlins and "how to behave" stuff. (Frankly, I feel that my "foreign" "work" gets better the more I forget that I'm "away from home" and the more I remember that we're all wrestling with pretty much the same issues.

Also, you'll belatedly find my PowerPoint.

Happy weekend!

(NB: The vibrancy and optimism in Korea is a delight to behold—and the smog I expected has long been mostly erased. The only big complaint by one and all is that, as usual, a primary byproduct of sustained success is sustained traffic mess.)

I Left My Heart ...

Indeed, I did leave my heart in San Francisco, where I lived in the City and then on the Peninsula for 30 years, more or less. Nonetheless, I'm one of those who also love and have long-loved peerless LA. It was my "port of entry" to California in 1966. Actually, I was up the road a stretch in Port Hueneme—among other things, Pacific Headquarters of our Naval Mobile Construction Battalions.

Well, I was back in LA yesterday, and out near Palm Springs giving a talk at the annual InformationWeek 500 gathering of IT execs. Upon returning I went out for my daily (speed) amble—and enjoyed every minute of it, as I cruised down Santa Monica Boulevard, Wilshire, et al.

Yup, I had a great time—but the meaning of the word "caricature" was in evidence. I was staying in West Hollywood. (Tell the truth, at the Four Seasons, thanks to my Client's donation to the TP Fund. Though in West Hollywood, the 4S stoops to "title inflation" by calling itself the "Four Seasons Hotel, Los Angeles at Beverly Hills." In fact, B.H. starts about a block away.)

I reached at least one conclusion on my little adventure. The Women of LA all have at least 20 fingers! There is simply no other way to explain the frequency of nail salons—hey, I was tempted. The other shopping staples (again & again & yet again) are home furnishings stores, and, yes, centers for plastic ("cosmetic"!) surgery. Of course there is indeed the Rolls-Bentley dealership—see above. And you know something's going down when the vacuum cleaner store has, prominently listed on its window: "Berlin. Paris. Rome. Sydney. Etc." Miele, naturally. And did I mention, I kid you not, the mild epidemic of Lamborghinis? As I said, caricature.

My walk probably tallied six miles, not bad after an all-nighter preparing my speech. Mostly it was that long because I was determined to keep walking until I found, in the low-rent environs, a Starbucks. I did, at about the three-mile mark; I took my laptop in my backpack, and worked for an hour or so at the shop.

I'm almost tempted to re-register to vote in CA so I can pull the lever for Ahhnold. The Guvenator (many "Guvenator" hats and T-shirts at LAX) in fact seems a perfect fit for earth's 40-million person sixth largest economy. As far as I can determine, he's doing a pretty good job—and he fits California to a T. (In SF in my time we had the dapper Willie Brown as mayor—he is SF!)

I can also report that the air is a helluva lot cleaner than when I arrived in '66. There are still a lot of nasties floating around—but the particulates that cause the smoggy look are waaaay down.

Enough. In 110 minutes, speaking of smog, I leave for Seoul.

Apologies!

Buy that (63-year-old) boy a map. I know I've been quiet for the last several days. Put simply, I have two round trips to Asia/Australia in two weeks. Left home Friday a week ago, spoke last Tuesday in Adelaide following a door-to-door 38-hour trip from Vermont. Then immediately on to Austin, another 24+ hour jaunt. (My presence didn't seem to help the Longhorns Saturday night.) Home for a/one day—and off to LA for a speech today followed by another marathon, to Seoul, for back-to-back full-day forums. By next Saturday, God willing, I will have racked up 50,000+ miles in two weeks.

My jet lag has jet lag—I'll be approaching sanity in a couple of weeks. Please bear with me.

Boat Guy

I'm a "boat guy" through and through. I'm putting up my best dozen boat pictures from my Sweden-Norway trip at flickr.

The Family Tree

That's Erik ... with a "k." Our Erik [Hansen] is as Norwegian as they come! In fact, as far as I can tell, he is a direct descendant of Kong Bele—King Bele the Bellicose—whose burial mound was less than 100 yards from my hotel in Norway. We're still not revealing the full-body shot of modern Erik, so this will have to do for now. Below, the Norwegian flag aboard the boat we chartered to roam the fjords for stepson Ben's 21st birthday.

SSWC06/Stockholm

This Post will be my last for two weeks. Susan & I & Max & Ben are off for Norway-Sweden tomorrow. After 3 or 4 days of hiking-biking around the fjords of Norway we travel to Stockholm for SSWC06. "What?" you ask. Single Speed World Championship 2006. Yes, a day long single speed bike race over very, very nasty terrain. Both Max and Ben are avid bikers, living in Colorado. "Avid"? Try: Fanatic! Maniacal!

"Single Speed" is exactly what it sounds like. Mountain bikes are re-engineered to reduce them to one speed for this madcap race. They will indeed be among an exclusive set of maniacs. The prior year's champion chooses the location. Max was in last year's race, outside of Harrisburg, PA; he did well, though he was not a top finisher. He figures he has a chance to be among the elite of the elite this year. Ben is pretty close. Both are equally skilled (What else would you expect me to say?); but Max logs more miles than Ben.

It is a true championship—but it also has a great fun component—compared, say, to the "intense" Tour de France!! If you want to check it out, go to http://www.sswc06.com.

Susan's Rule for this trip is The Last Word: "No computer, Tom. No. None. Nada. Zip." So, away I/we go!

(Rowing yesterday. Finally got a half-decent pic of the Great Blue Heron I pass every day.)

Another View

KL & the Colonel—why am I not surprised?

Back-to-Back Redeyes

Fly all night to Bangkok from D.C. Make that: fly two "all nights." West to East to get to Southeast Asia is tougher than East to West—some disagree. First redeye is D.C. to Frankfurt, then Frankfurt to Bangkok on Royal Thai—offering Royal Service. Arrive early and hit the streets ASAP. Above: Street food. No I shouldn't. Yes I did. Can't stick with hotel food—why else bring a trunkful of Immodium!

All Pro Jaywalking Required

The cars (Bangkok traffic is notoriously dense and outta control—some combination) and motorcycles, and even the TukTuks, cut pedestrians no slack. Jaywalking is stupid. But necessary for me—makin' my bones.