dispatches from the new world of work

Give That Boy An Atlas For His Birthday!

Okay, so I was in Brazil (Belo Horizonte) yesterday. Now in Charleston, SC. (Hotel-to-hotel, 18 hours.) And where from here? Chile! Argentina! "But you were just in South America, a stone's throw from Buenos Aires," you say. My reply: "Well, uh ..." Or: "But it's only one time-zone ..."

(FYI: Hats off to an ... airline. Brazil's TAM. Service was super.)

Tom Peters posted this on 09/29/05.

Comments

Tom,

Nice to hear that u hav recd an excellent service from a Brazilian airline...but jus look at the other part of the world...I mean INDIA where there was a strike called by the Airports Authority of India Union in protest against "privatisation" of Mumbai and Delhi airports. The departures and arrivals of flights were affected at the Mumbai, Delhi & Calcutta airports where some flights were curtailed by various airlines because of low load factor. To me, i would personally feel ashamed for such an unwarranted & uncalled-for strike. I am now in HK and i was bamboozled the day i landed here @ HK and was dumbstruck lookin at HK airport (No wonder its one of the best airports in the world!)...Also, I was wondering as to when India could hav a similar (atleast 75% of what HK has)airport and here we go with another strike to prevent privatization....sad state of affairs!.I guess if India has to be the most competitive nation (presently ranked # 49, China is 50, Finland is 1, USA is 2) as per the World Competitive Index, the Govt. of India has a lot to do on developing Infrastructure especially in the CORE sectors & not jus calling strikes! Wake up India! The time has come for India to change & change for the good! Better late than NEVER!

Posted by K.Sriram (from Hong Kong) at September 29, 2005 9:27 AM

Have a good trip and don't forget to get the yoga mat out after being scrunched into any airplane seat, no matter how comfortable, yoga's still a must after travelling.

Even when I feel fairly comfortable and balanced in my posture, spine, muscles, entire body, I can get on the floor, do a little stretching and find a lot of places that are tense.

Posted by Halley at September 29, 2005 10:57 AM

An atlas? No way! Google Earth for the boy! Interactive maps, National Geographic, Web Searches and what else... the world as we know it no longer exists. Today, I (in Nigeria) was poring over my sister's apartment (in Canada), my girlfriends campus in Hertfordshire and then at an old palace of Saddam's (in Iraq, please) and then had a chance to see the map of the area in 2001. And that was before I decided to get satellite imagery of Hurricane Katrina's impact.

Did someone actually say "atlas"?

earth.google.com

Posted by STaylor at September 29, 2005 11:34 AM

STaylor, i think that when TomÂ´s said "Give that boy an Atlas" he was trying to tell US that there are really good companies and opportunities in Latin America.
But good point, google always ahead. (see google free wifi in San Francisco).

Rodrigo ((Carneiro))

Posted by Rodrigo Carneiro at September 29, 2005 12:28 PM

chile???!!! when??
tell us, please.

andrea.

Posted by andrea at September 29, 2005 3:21 PM

Tom, a while back you blogged about the fact that you "travel heavy". I was amazed at all the stuff you haul along on a trip like this - sounds more like a J-Lo world tour! What kind of bags, cases, TRUNKS! are you using? And how many? Got any tips or experiences in this regard, after clocking up so many millions of air miles?

Posted by Rowan Gibson at September 29, 2005 3:28 PM

Great speech at Belo Horizonte!!! Although it was late, Mr. Peters kept a great level of energy and enthusiasm! Thank you for showing what leadership is all about! Tom Peters for president!!!

Posted by Marcio at September 29, 2005 5:08 PM

I loved your speech at Belo Horizonte!!!
You're the best!!!

Posted by Paula Vitali at September 30, 2005 8:31 AM

Andrea: Tom is going to be at Santiago of Chile on October 3th.

I also agree with Rodrigo Carneiro on the issue that there is a lot of possibilities in latin american countries.

I can say that distance still matter when we are talking about business...

Mr. Peters: Good Luck with your agenda.

Posted by Juan Felipe Espinosa CristiÃ at September 30, 2005 11:52 AM

And I thought delivering two workshops in four days here in little old England travelliing about 500 miles by car was busy. You make me feel tired just reading about your schedule Tom - hope you are getting plenty of walking :-)

Posted by Trevor at September 30, 2005 3:58 PM

Coincidentally, I just received this from a friend from Sao Paulo today:

A blonde was sitting on the train (or TAM flight) reading the newspaper.

The headline blared, "12 Brazilian Soldiers Killed."

She shook her head at the sad news, then turned to the stranger sitting next to her and asked, "How many is a Brazilian?"

Tom, you're great, my hero. (Please excuse the not-so-far-off-topic joke).

Posted by Doug Smiley at September 30, 2005 11:50 PM