dispatches from the new world of work

Travelin' Man ...

Approaching Novosibirsk

New record. Took 31 hours to get to Novosibirsk, Siberia, from Boston. Left on the 11th. Lost the 12th. (No international dateline, just travelin'.) Arrived on the 13th. (Boston-Frankfurt-St Petersburg via Lufthansa, St Petersburg to Novosibirsk via Air Siberia.) Featured a 9-hour layover in St Petersburg. (Alas, I was stuck in the terminal—instead of a quick visit to the Hermitage, I instead sat on the concrete floor reading cheap novels and working on my next PowerPoint; I didn't qualify for any of the clubs; couldn't eat either, as the currency kiosk was closed until whenever—and the shops wouldn't take dollars.) Novosibirsk, on the Trans-Siberian Railway, bisects a line drawn from Moscow to Vladivostock. It's an industrial and scientific city, Russia's third largest. Great growth in mfg occurred during World War II. As the Germans marched East, Stalin hurriedly moved as much critical manufacturing as possible out of the range of their bombers—Novosibirsk was a great beneficiary. Then, in the '50s a giant "science city" was planted here.

When I arrived, groggy, at 6 a.m., after those endless hours, I was greeted and jolted out of my sleepless stupor with a temperature of minus 13C, about plus 5F. I quickly noticed there were two kinds of people—glove wearers and barehanders. I decided to defend Vermont's honor—and went gloveless.

My afternoon walk revealed a lot of Stalinist heavy-on-the-concrete "architecture," and a smattering of wonderful wooden structures with ornate carving that I'd guess are classic Siberian. As usual in Russia, alas, smiling faces were noticeably absent. At one point, on my way into the hotel after my Power Walk, I politely held the door while about 10 women paraded out. Not one looked up and graced me with as much as a fleeting nod. (Okay, coulda been me.) Here, a long way from Moscow, English is simply not spoken by any but the relatively young. I'm even finding it almost impossible to communicate with the hotel staff. Problems notwithstanding, my hosts are lovely, and I suspect I'm the first management "guru" to venture this far afield—I look forward to giving my talk, though I can't imagine I'm relevant.

Tom Peters posted this on 04/16/06.

Comments

Thanks for that summary - you bring alive the cultural differences so vividly. I heard something I really liked recently "Those with great wealth who have not learned the art of 'radical giving' find their money a burden."

I think we in the relatively 'rich economies' still have an awful long way to go to 'radically give away' our wealth to help less fortunate humans beings who are struggling to come to terms with a new economic culture such as the post communism era.

I'm sure your presentation will wow them - you are the ONLY guru who has ventured that far I suspect.

Posted by Trevor at April 17, 2006 6:13 AM

Tom... defend Vermont's honor with common sense by wearing the damn gloves!

Good God!

I am sure none of us will hold it against you.

Posted by James Hathaway at April 17, 2006 7:54 AM

Fun insights. "Architecture" - noticed that too when touring eastern Europe in 1992. Those of the extreme north seem to have their ways - like the Fins love of the Tango.

Posted by Sean at April 17, 2006 8:11 AM

Tom, if one single person hears your talk and "gets it", then you are relevant in their world. As they say, it only takes a spark to get a fire going. It may take years and years to see your work pay dividends, but your contibuting to someones search for relevance and your mission has deeper value than what is apparent on the surface.

dosveedaneeya

Posted by snxs at April 17, 2006 9:10 AM

Iron curtain powerwalk....must be great!!

Posted by Scott Segal at April 17, 2006 10:06 AM

Tom, I cannot imagine you feeling irrelevant! So I would like to hear more about that feeling. What would you do to make yourself relevant in Novosibirsk, if (banish the thought!), you found yourself working there?

Posted by Alan Brewer at April 17, 2006 10:41 AM

Trevor - please send any radical giving $$$ c/o Sean :>}... Siberia has incredible natural resource wealth - largely untapped ... oil to USA please!

Posted by Sean at April 17, 2006 1:35 PM

Tom, thanks for your lecture in Academgorodok! I will study intently your books.

Report from my blog:
http://www.filurin.ru/2006/04/14/tom-piters-amerikanskiy-propovednik-dlya-nachalnikov/

If you know russian, of course.

Posted by Alexander from Siberia at April 17, 2006 10:12 PM

Tom, you'll be relevant as soon as you press the right buttons for your audience. In Russia, that means us Westerners should be looking to learn from people at least as much as we look to share what we know. I found that out in December with my audience of Russians at Lake Baikal - even deeper into Siberia than Novosibirsk. You will know when you have got through to the audience when they ask you to be the Tamada (toastmaster) at dinner!

Posted by Ian Gourlay at April 18, 2006 7:37 AM

I am just reading The World is Flat - yes I know a latecomer to the book (too busy reading TP stuff before!) and was just interested with your far flung travelling at the moment, do you have a view on whether the world is as flat as we believe? Or with the cultural differences still causing mounds on the Earth's flat surface? Maybe it should be the world is flat but the people are still a little rounder than they should be??

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