The Management Mythbuster

The Tokyo Experience

Its expensive, crowded and the locals are scared of H1N1 but I really enjoy Tokyo.  The people are so respectful and polite and in my case made me feel genuinely welcome.  I was made to feel like an honoured guest and for the first time was asked to have my picture taken with attendees at my speech.  A very elegant older lady and two beautiful young colleagues - see the evidence below.  I then hooked up with a former colleague - Charles - we worked together 25 years ago and had not seen eachother for 13 years.  We had a great time and consumed much sake!  It just goes to prove that friendship is something worth maintaining.

Toilet training - Singapore style

Finally got some sleep over the weekend in Singapore, after six countries in six days.  Interesting place Singapore - its got the best air conditioning in Asia so it got my business.  Barely ventured out for two days - no need to - dining, movies, bars, hotels, shopping and mass transit all accessible without venturing outside. 

Hotel was "trackside" by the F1 circuit so I spent sometime imagining Lewis, Jensen and the boys screaming down Raffles Boulevard come September.  Politically Singapore is not really a democracy but it works very well.  They take great pride in their city, sometimes excessively so - I think littering is capital offense.  On this trip the guidance of the masses to be sensitive to their fellow citizens manifested itself for me with the sign below found in a restroom at the Marina Mall:

I was quite surprised there wasn't an offer of free lessons and unlimited "target practice" to improve your aim although I suspect that oversight will have been corrected on my next visit.

Oh, the joys of being a jet-setter!

Now on my fourth country in 24 hours and I'm knackered! Dinner in Hong Kong last night, two hours sleep in Singapore, lunch in Kuala Lumpur and hopefully a cold beer any minute now in Bangkok. Not very glamourous as I sweat my way round Asia!  

So what are the big issues here in Asia?  Well they are certainly more sanguine about the recession than us Europeans and Americans.  One example comes from today's edition of The Straits Times, one of the Singapore's leading newspapers.  The letters page was full of bile and venom -  but not about the recession, the credit crunch, British MP's ripping off the taxpayer and Sarah Palin's upcoming biography.  No the top two letters addressed the real issues of the day.  First we had a scathing attack on public servants under the headline, "Bus drivers should brake more gently"  and then we had a brutal discourse on modern youth under the headline "Library visits ruined by unruly students." 

Isn't it nice to see that some countries still focus on the real issues of the day?

Sign of the Danish Times

When you think of the Danes what comes to mind?  If you are American you may not not be sure what a Dane is, never mind where their country is on a map. For the rest of us, it is probably not a question we have ever pondered, but if you did witty, humourous, and amusing may not be the first words to come to mind.  Yet I am willing to offer up Denmark as the home to the wittiest shop signs in the world.  I don't know why but they love their puns in Copenhagen -- see for yourself...

 

Not tired yet!

Since March 10th I have been to 14 countries on three continents, crossed the Atlantic six times, been on 29 flights and slept in 19 different hotels.  But that was just the start.  Today I am sitting in Cleveland Airport waiting to board a flight to London. Tomorrow morning I connect there to visit Bucharest. Over the next 25 days I will visit another 13 countries also on 3 continents, deliver 14 speeches, take five red-eye flights and not visit home once - I can't wait!  My next four weekends will be spent in China, Singapore, Tokyo and London - which sounds very glamorous - but when you are knackered it does not matter where your head hits the pillow. 

I get back home on May 29th, sleep for three days and then go to Bogota!  Insane or what? Stay tuned for more updates...