#19 - The joy of shopping

The training course was happily over. It was my pleasure to visit in the middle of Texas prairie, but it was time to hit the road again.

The next day I was lucky to visit at our air conditioned office, because it was really hot outside. The last thing to do before driving to the airport was a visit to Toys R Us. Mr. H. needed to buy souvenirs to his children and I decided to do the same. I had really difficult to figure out what should I buy to my two children. When I finally managed to do it, I went to see how Mr. H was doing. His shopping basket was almost full, but at the same time it was half empty. That' when I realised that my colleaque had about a dozen children and as a gentleman he had promised to bring souvenirs to all of them.

For a poor shopper like me it was shopping until exhaust. However, our kids were happy to the souvenirs when I returned back to home.

Lessons learnt:

Do not promise to bring souvenirs every time you travel.

#18 - It ain't so easy to get to Paradise

It was time to prepare for a company training course in Texas USA. I was finally getting to Paradise. Really. 

As usual, the business was hectic and I decided to utilize my networking and delegation skills in the preparation. I was going to travel with my colleague, Mr. H. He was responsible for all the planning and preparations. We were supposed to meet at the Stockholm Arlanda airport and travel together to Paradise. For the last miles Mr H. had reserved a rental car and printed a road map. Paradise was calling for the first time in my life. I felt lucky that I did not have to print any documents about the destination. I thought that I will just follow my colleague.

I packed my sneakers into suitcase, as well as another mobile phone (the European mobile phones were not yet functioning in USA). There I was again at the famous Tampere airport. The weather was a bit misty. I was waiting and waiting. The flight was already late. The reason was that the aeroplane coming from Helsinki could not land at the foggy Tampere airport. Excitement was tightening. Finally the aeroplane arrived and soon I was on my way to Stockholm. We landed just in time at Arlanda, after which I needed to commute to another terminal. I saw that my flight still waiting for me. After a sprint I was at the gate, but unfortunately the gate was closed. No way to get in, even if the aeroplane was still standing on the tube.

Arlanda transfer center was kind enough to re-route me via Island to USA. There I was flying first time with Island Air. After some working session with my laptop I fell asleep. The next thought was that I must be landing on the moon, but soon I realized that it was the scenery of Reykjavik airport. So, I have been in Reykjavik, sort of.

During the next flight from Reykjavik to Chicago I had some time to think about the Paradise, especially how to get there. I did not know where it was and how to get there. All the necessary information was travelling with my colleague on another flight. In Chicago I started to make calls with American mobile phone. The battery was empty before I could clarify the answers to the tricky questions. It was not a pleasure the travel to Dallas without having any clue where to go. It was almost midnight when I arrived at Dallas. No phone, no coins, no destination, no friends. I felt so miserable.

Finally I managed to find the telephone number to the ranch in the Paradise. With a miserable outlook I managed to convince the airport crew lettting me make a call with their telephone. I was told that there are two ladies arriving in an hour and they have booked a limousine drive from the airport to the ranch at the Paradise. I was supposed to wait at the parking slot X until the limousine would pick me up. What a relief, I thought.

The joy was too early. Parking slot X had two levels. For the next hour I was switching continuously with my suitcase between the upper and the lower levels. Nothing happened and I started to be very nervous again. Finally the limousine arrived and drove me through the dark roads in the middle of a prairie. The Paradise was calling.

I must admit that it ain’t so easy to get to Paradise.

The Paradise
Source:Here.com

Lessons learnt:

It ain’t so easy to get to Paradise.

Remember the risks of delegation.

You may trust your friends, but not the system.

Risk management - Do not forget back-up plan.

#17 - Innovation tips free of charge

Curiosity is core part of innovativeness. If you can retain your childhood curiosity throughout your life, you will make miracles. I have tried to retain such an attitude and sometimes I even succesfully.

While using taxi in Italy, I am always wondering why the Italian taxi drivers keep the air conditioning off and windows open while on the move. It is very annoying, because the rapidly changing air pressure feels like a loud hum in your ears. We Finns do not have such a habit, because we see air conditioning as a valuable functionality that keeps the windows clear in winter and cools down the car in summer. I have been wondering this strange Italian logic, but never reached conclusion. Here are the options I have thought about:

1. The driver has not realized that there is air conditioning in the car
2. The driver wants to tease the customer
3. The driver prefers hot air rather than cool car
4. The customer pleasure is not adequate to compensate the extra energy consultion caused by airconditioning
5. This is just an old habit and people do whatever they have done so far every day

Another point of wondering couple of years ago was the number of television aerials on the roof of Italian apartment buildings. Every apartment must have at least one own aerial at the roof, which make the total number of aerials per house very high. Such a house looks like a nest of a Maggie. How about sharing one antenna per house? Here are the options I have thought about:

1.  Nobody has thought about that one television antenna could serve several televisions
2. Italians are too shy to talk with their neighbours about the issue
3.  How about going straight to cable and forget the antennas

The one who solves those equations and makes a tailored solution for Italy becomes famous and rich in Italy. This is your chance to get some respect. I have not been able to do it even if I had curiosity.

Lessons learnt:

Curiosity is a key of innovation.

#16 - Italians Love Football

I was heading once more to Rome Italy. After arrival to Fiumicino airport I jumped into a taxi. The driver was a bit reluctant to take a customer, because he preferred watching a local football game. He had an old portable television with a long antenna installed on the dashboard of the car. Despite the age of the product, the quality of the picture was pretty good.

Finally the driver started the engine and we were on the road. I was surprised that the driver did not switch off the television. I started to be really scared when the speed reached 180 km/h on a highway and the driver was concentrating most of the time watching the football game and fixing the television. The old portable television was not designed to be used on the move and the quality of the picture went occasionally bad in such a high speed. The driver was hitting the television repeatedly. Anyway, it was possible to follow the commentary and most of the time the picture, as well.

I felt lucky when I arrived at the hotel in one piece. However, the Italian passion to football impressed me. It also proofed to me that if there is a will, there is a way.

Lessons learnt:

Learn to combine business and pleasure.

If there is a will, there is a way.

Life remains exciting if you retain your passion to sports.

There are beautiful football stadiums in Rome ;-)

#15 - Italian Job

All the roads lead to Rome

That was one of the rare moments I had no hurry at all. I was heading to Rome once again. It was going to be an exciting meeting to me, because I was supposed to meet important executives and I was the only representative from my business unit. This time I decided to make a relaxed start. My flight was supposed to leave late afternoon from Tampere airport, so I decided leave the office and enjoy a relaxing lunch at home.

After the lunch I started to pack my suitcase. That’s when I realized first time that my travel itinerary was printed on both sides of a paper. The targeted departure time was actually the departure time from Helsinki. However, my first flight was from Tampere to Helsinki and I was in a hurry.

I thought for a second and made a conclusion. It is impossible to catch the flight departing from Tampere, but it is also impossible to drive to Helsinki and catch the second flight from there. I decided to go for Tampere. 

I buttoned my shirt and trousers while my wife was packing rest of the clothes to my suitcase. In couple of minutes I was driving towards the airport. Time was really short (much shorter than my earlier record for the same route). What could I do to help the situation? I called to 0100100 and asked them to direct the call to Tampere airport. After the second call forwarding I was speaking with a Finnair ticketing officer. I explained the situation and kindly asked them to keep the plane waiting for me. When the officer asked where I was, I needed to a lie in order to keep the story ongoing. I was driving very fast (but definitely not over speeding). Closer to the airport I made another call to 0100100 and again after the second call forwarding I was speaking with the same ticketing officer. At the end of the call the officer told me that I had exactly two minutes before the gate would be closed. Luckily I was just approaching the airport. I parked my car next to the main door, left the car staying there and locked the doors. The ticketing officer was waiting for me outside the main entrance and gave me the flight ticket while I was running to the gate. I made it and the flight actually departed one minute ahead of time schedule. My nerves were broken and I was sweating like a pig. That was probably the most stressful situation in my life. After calming down I decided that I will never do such a thing again.

Miniature reminding me about the flight that I barely caught.

In Helsinki I called to my wife and asked her to drive to the airport and move my car to a legal parking area. I felt lucky, as I did not get a parking ticket.

Lessons learnt:

Nothing is impossible - Impossible is nothing.