Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 10 of 58

Sunday, January 17th

Learning Moment: India

Great day in Fisherman's Cove.

I spent the morning at the pool - working on storyboards for a course I'm designing and swimming laps.

We then had an excellent outdoor Mediterranean buffet, with champagne, at the Upper Deck restaurant. Overlooking the Bay of Bengal, we enjoyed our food while spotting kingfishers, butterflies, and lizards.

We worked off lunch with a trek up and down the beach, where we encountered this happy gentleman. A small fishing boat had just come in from the bay and sold it's contents to the locals who crowd the beach.

This man is showing off the two fresh fish that he just bought. I love the vibrancy of life in India. I also love that people enjoy posing for photos.

"Namaste! Namaste! Hello!", we kept hearing.

Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 9 of 58

Saturday, January 16

Learning Moment: Chennai, India

On Saturday, we flew from Singapore to India.

The cover on the left is there only because I like it.

It caught my eye in the airport book store, so I snapped a picture of it. Su Tong is the author of "Raise the Red Lantern", which Zhang Yimou made into a stunning film, starring Gong Li. If you've never seen it, you must.

Anyway, we had a good flight to India and even cleared immigration quickly.

Then we reached baggage carousel hell. One carousel broke down, so two planes worth of baggage was sent to one carousel - 600 people crammed into a space built for about 100.

It felt like being in the front three rows of a rock concert, but without the music. Tight, sweaty, hot, uncomfortable. After getting our bags, we walked a mile or so to our taxi, dragging the bags through dirt, mud, and rocks while cars lined in single file honked their horns at each other just to see what they sound like.

Sixty minutes later, we were in Fisherman's Cove, at our hotel - our sanctuary.

It felt like we found our own redemption.

Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 8 of 58

Friday, January 15th

Learning Moment: Singapore

I probably do my best work when I'm traveling. Today, I finished teaching a Situational Leadership II workshop that went really well.

In addition, I finished seven more pages of a workshop I'm designing, gave feedback on two slide decks, and coached three different employees on issues that they are facing.

That's a good day.

To reward myself, I took Angie to Chijmes for dinner.

Oh, who am I kidding? I would have done that anyway.

It was a beautiful night - warm with a tropical breeze. The pizza and mojitos were tasty, and the surrounding architecture (it's a former convent) is interesting.

No wonder I do my best work on the road.

Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 7 of 58

Thursday, January 14th

Learning Moment: Singapore

I was in a taxi today, headed to the office in Serangoon, when I realized that I love my Kindle.

I'm the kind of person who cannot make a long business trip without bringing at least six books.

I need three for each direction.

Then I end up buying at least five more... You can imagine the weight I end up accumulating.

Well, this is my first trip with my Kindle. I've got 467 documents loaded: everything from ChangeThis manifestos to work documents that I've converted to pdfs to Gandhi's autobiography.

I've completed two books and more than ten smaller documents.

The kindle is lightweight, easy to use, and easy to read.

Very, very cool...

Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 6 of 58

Storyboards Rock...

Wednesday, January 13th
Learning Moment: Singapore

I'm working with Ed Muzio (co-author of Four Secrets to Liking Your Work) on the instructional design of a workshop that will accompany his new book, tentatively titled "Make Work Great!".

I first used storyboarding while working on the slide:ology workshop, but that was done on my office wall. This project marks the first time that I have storyboarded a workshop in my notebook and then worked on it while traveling.

Ed and I brainstormed ideas for the workshop over the course of a couple of months. On my flight to Singapore, I sketched those ideas onto post-it notes with a sharpie and placed them into my notebook. Then, I went through the draft of Ed's book and created more post-its (this second round of notes is in blue pen). Finally, I combined the two sets of notes, moving them into a working order.

You can see that module headers are pink, learning content is yellow, and exercises are blue. At a glance, I can see what the mix of content to exercise is. I've been working on this project by the pool at the Intercontinental Hotel, in our room, at breakfast, and in taxis to the office.

Only now am I constructing the workbook for the course. This storyboarding has made it very easy for me to think visually and see the book before I construct it.

Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 5 of 58

Tuesday, January 12th

Learning Moment: Singapore

Timeliness obviously varies by culture.

I was reminded of this fact yesterday, as I led the slide:ology workshop in Singapore.

The workshop was scheduled to start at 9:00 am.

At 9:15, I had just over half of the attendees present, so I started.

The room was full around 9:30.

When I gave a 10-minute break in the morning, most of the attendees took 20-25 minutes.

For lunch, I gave a 70-minute break, saying "be back by 1:30".

We didn't get started until 2:00.

Finally, I got smart. I gave a 7-minute break in the afternoon - just enough time to reach the coffee machine and restroom. Then I didn't give the last break that I usually provide.

Sure, I could get angry and threaten, but that doesn't support a learning atmosphere.

I just observe the behavior, comment on it, and let them know that any chance to end early is decreased by their tardiness.

If that doesn't work, I just adjust the material a little, trimming time for exercises, and keep on teaching...

Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 4 of 58

proof that you shouldn't drink and drive powerpoint

Monday, January 11

Learning Moment: Singapore

Yeah, I admit it. This is bad. But I couldn't help myself.

Angie and I were eating dinner at Prego, a favorite Italian restaurant of ours in Singapore.

At the table next to us, a woman was sipping a glass of wine while creating an awful PowerPoint presentation.

I had to sneak my camera out and take a shot of it.

Just about everything is wrong with this slide:

• It's got a terrible, noisy background
• The title is meaningless
• Baaaad clip art
• Red lines that are hard to see against the dark blue background
• And you can't see it, but don't get me started about the animation (everything flew in from somewhere)

The worst part of it?

She spend two hours of her life making small adjustments to this, as if the small adjustments would improve the presentation! That doesn't count the hours she spent before I saw her.

There really isn't any excuse for this. I wanted to shake her by the shoulders and command her to buy "slide:ology" or "Presentation Zen".

On the other hand, ever crappy presentation out there makes me look better.

So, let others keep making bad presentation, I say.

As long as I don't have to watch them...