2Weeks2aBreakthrough

Butterflies

If you want to fly, you need to flap.

Before my event at Barnes and Noble today, I visited the Sertoma Butterfly House in Sioux Falls - I just could not resist!

It was fun to stroll among these beautiful flappers.

I did not get on the road until my bookstore talk ended at 1:30pm, and the ride was about 5.5 hours, so I got into my hotel in Rapid City, SD somewhat late. It was a nice ride - no rain, not much wind. and I love the open space. I am a big sky girl. Not at all boring.

One downside - both Hazel and I got covered in bugs. My finger tips and the front of my calves got hit by lots of bugs - splat! And poor Hazel has a thick layer on her front facing surfaces.

Tomorrow I head to Cheyenne, Wyoming by way of Mount Rushmore.

Soupy and Windy in Sioux Falls

I got to Sioux Falls today and the ride was a bit wild. It started out wonderful because I was escorted by two cool Fargo biker gals. They turned around to head back home after about 40 miles. As I drove south, the sky got darker and darker. I hit about 10 minutes of rain but managed to skirt it most of the way.

But the wind! Today I experienced the strongest winds yet. It was so windy that I sometimes had a hard time keeping my head turned straight and my bike was getting pushed around. I stopped at a Starbucks for a rest in Watertown, SD, and almost got blown over while sitting on the bike.

And now, a line of strong storms with hail and rain and thunder is moving through. The nice people at my hotel let me pull Hazel up and under the front awning in case it hails a lot. That's a relief because it looks like the worst of the storm will be coming through overnight.

Tomorrow I have a talk at the Sioux Falls Barnes & Noble and then I travel west to Rapid City, South Dakota. So far, the weather report says the weather will be fine.

I really have been lucky on this trip - missing most of the bad weather. Knock on wood.

There is something really neat going on in Fargo, but I can't give you all the details yet. I will just say that several people have engaged with each other and embraced the breakthrough challenge and the result could be a fun new Fargo based business project/venture that might benefit a lot of people. I did four events in Fargo and the butterfly flaps were happening at each meeting - the ideas got developed even though there was very little overlap in the participants.

Thanks for your emails - I am enjoying reading them. I will spend some time in the next couple days on writing down specific stories and will share them with you.

Make this a great Friday - share your goal with three people and take two actions that support your goal. Go to bed focused and in action and have an awesome weekend.

Fabulous Fargo

It's 9:23pm and I just finished my final event in Fargo, North Dakota. What an amazing two days! Thanks so much to Jodee Bock for being a great catalyst and connector and spending these two days with me. Jodee,  you are a rock star!

I will have more time tomorrow evening (from Sioux Falls, SD) and will tell you more about what has happened in Fargo. I am physically and mentally spent - in a great way - and need to relax, reflect, and rehydrate. For now, I just want to say that I met a lot of amazing people and the butterfly flaps are already starting.

Each stop built on the one prior.

I have some great stories to share - wonderful people dong extraordinary things.

For now I need to chill.

And tomorrow morning I have a special treat. Two fellow lady bikers who attended my event tonight offered to ride with me out of Fargo. I can't wait! Three biker chicks heading south.

This breakthrough catalyst work is really fun.

Have you told people about your goal? Get out there and share what you are up to and what you want to create. It is powerful stuff. I promise.

Fun in Harley Town

I am heading to Minneapolis this morning and hoping to dodge the rain, so I am making this post short, but sweet.

Sweet is a great word to describe my day in Milwaukee, too. From the frozen custard (a Milwaukee specialty) to the receptive attendees at the Schwartz bookstore talk, to a lovely post-talk dinner with Relationship Geek Phil Gerbyshak and his wife Kim. Sweet, sweet, sweet. And I loved exploring the Schwartz bookstore - nothing beats a great bookstore (I bought too much and now I have to figure out how to get the books on the bike). I am a sucker for books and stationary.

Thanks also to Todd - from 1800CEOREAD - for attending the talk. It was so great seeing you again!

I like Milwaukee a lot and loved meeting new people (like Lynn and his wife - I hope your kids flap, flap, flap - who bought books for all their kids, such a great idea) or reconnecting with my pals. I will share more when I get to Minneapolis - I will be there for two days.

Time to do the no-rain dance and hit the road.

Are you doing your daily practice today? Yes, I know it's Father's day, but you can spend 10 minutes and do the daily practice to keep your wings flappin. Then spend the rest of the day giving your dad or other loved ones your time and attention. I'll be doing my daily practice after gettting to my hotel.

Cicadas at 70 MPH and Made it to Harley town

As I rolled into Chicago on Thursday afternoon, I wondered if I would have a problem with the Cicadas (those humongous bugs that come out in the millions once every 17 years). I lived in the Wash. DC area during the last cicada boom and remember how icky it was driving with them on the roads....

in a car...

but on motorcycle?

Well, I felt pretty lucky because I did not see very many cicadas Thursday afternoon or evening and just a few more on Friday. I heard them, though, and that high pitched buzz is unmistakable.

This morning I left for Milwaukee and got on the I-94 northbound.

There they were. Eeeww.

When cicadas start hitting your knees, shield and helmet at 70 MPH they make a big and messy thud. They sting a bit on the knees, too.

That's all I am going to say about that...

Made it to Milwaukee - Harley town! - fine and am looking forward to a talk at the Schwartz Books store in a couple hours.

Heading Out For Chicago

This is just a quick post. I am heading out on the longest day - mileage-wise - so I need to get an early start. All is well and I am looking forward to events in Chicago, and Milwaukee, and then the Dakotas! I will do a more substantive post tomorrow.

Lightening Strikes in Philly

What a great group of folks in Philadelphia! I thoroughly enjoyed chatting it up with a group of people who are clearly up to something.

Thanks so much to Valeria Maltoni for being my connector and catalyst for reaching the fine folks in Philly. Valeria is a wonderful blogger - please add Conversation Agent to your daily read. Here's her post about the day. I love her summation of some of the key points, so check it out.

Bubbling brains and lightening strikes (figuratively and literally! - I got to my hotel before the skies dumped).

One more thing. Butterfly flaps (or flutterby flaps, for folks like John) really, really work. I have seen this happen many times in the last several days.

In Atlanta - two folks got together and formed a business relationship at the event.
In Baltimore - I mentioned the stories about my brother and his wood pens and my friend Johna and her children's book and need for an illustrator. In that audience was a connection for BOTH a pen distributor and a children's book illustrator.
In Philly - it's 6:22 AM and I have already gotten two emails from people telling me about amazing connections that have been made.

Bubbling brains.

And remember, we don't know which butterfly flaps will make the difference. Don't lose heart. Keep flapping in a directionally correct and focused manner and things will happen.

I will be heading to Indiana today - about 300 miles - so I am going to get going.

Phili, bumps, and flying rubber debris

Got to downtown Philadelphia just fine. As soon as I got away from Baltimore, the tolls started - $5, $3. One would assume that tolls mean either 1) better roads or 2) less crowded roads.

Well......

Today's short ride felt more like a dirt bike race through the woods - very bumpy! The roads are in poor condition with all kinds of jagged cracks, bulges, and assorted rough patches. Hazel did fine, but I fear she made need another spa day soon.

Have you ever been behind a semi truck when it blows a tire? You know how they have two sets of tires so that they don't crash when they lose a tire? Well that's a great safety feature but there is a downside too - having an extra tire means they can blow a tire and never slow down.

I was behind such a truck. As the tire started to break up, small and then large bits of steel-belted tire came flinging out. I immediately slowed down and moved over to the left lane (it was a two lane highway, the truck was in the right lane). Now I became the problem, a slower moving vehicle in the passing lane. As cars whizzed by me, I could see the irritation on the drivers' faces. Then they got closer to the truck and saw what was happening and slammed on their breaks.

Here's what amazed me - the trucker never slowed down and never pulled over. He passed a rest stop and an exit, but just kept going at 70+ MPH. And I bet that if one of the tire pieces caused any kind of damage or harm, he would not have been held responsible. I can understand that it is just bad luck when a vehicle hits something on the road and blows a tire. But this trucker was spewing tire bits for over 3 miles. He surely felt what was happening and could have slowed down and over.

That's my rant for the day. Luckily it all turned out fine for me and the other cars.

Crash of the Introvert

You've heard of the Clash of the Titans, right? Well, this is nothing like that.

Today about 1pm I crashed.

No worries, not while on the bike! My mind and body crashed. It has been a very full two days of talks, networking, more talks, more networking, and people, people, people. It has been am amazing two days and I have enjoyed them. I feel lucky to have connected with so many wonderful and smart people.

And now I have crashed. I am a strong introvert by nature (which means I derive energy from introversion) and this is a common thing for introverts who extrovert for longer periods of time.

The crash.

Thanks to everyone who made the last two days great and very much worth feeling like a zombie with a lobotomy on a Valium this afternoon.

And did I mention that I met Kevin Eikenberry? He was at the ASTD conference wowing people with advance news about his upcoming book about remarkable leadership. I had the pleasure of looking at the manuscript a couple months ago and it will be a great one. He also has a learning system. Kevin and I had chatted and emailed many times but this was the first time we met in person.  What a cool, cool, guy!

Kevin and I talked about our perceptions about how many training and development professionals are savvy to the uses of blogs and podcasts. I said virtually none. He was a bit more optimistic. Here's why I say this: last year I spoke at ASTD and mentioned the uses of blogging and podcasting for training and development. Virtually no one knew what I was talking about.

This year feels much the same with one exception - more people know what they do not know and seem a bit more curious. When a woman in a breakout session recognized me as the speaker of an earlier session and asked me about podcasts, four other people who overheard the conversation asked me for my card so they could listen to my podcasts (as a sample of a simple way to do it).

So the curiosity is rising, but the use does not seem common yet. As I mentioned in my sessions this year, I think blogs and podcasts can enhance training impact and interest (and they are free - woo-hoo, more money for Krispy Kremes). Both are created in a natural voice and most are produced by passionate and provocative professionals.  Want a great starter list of business blogs? Check out the blogroll on my main blog, Management Craft (scroll down on the left hand column).

But I don't need to tell you this, right, because you are reading THIS blog. Thanks very much, by the way, I feel like I have a bunch of pals on this tour with me.

One last question: How does the story about Paris Hilton feeling cold in jail make it onto CNN? How is that Wolf and Anderson even utter her name? Nothing against Paris, it just strikes me as odd that the channel that is supposedly all about real news would give something like this air time. Is there nothing else going on in the world worth sharing instead?

Give the girl a blanket and lets move on to things that matter. Hey Anderson, you are better than this! CNN is on my mind because the ASTD conference was right next to the CNN HQ. I imagined Anderson sitting at an oval conference table planning the day's broadcast..... "so what's this about Paris being cold? Do we have someone we can pull from somewhere to get a live report? Let's pull Bob out of New Hampshire so he can cover it... Who do we have who can comment on the average daily temperature and apparent lack of adequate blankets? What about the precedence for suing for cruel treatment based on slow-onset hyperthermia? Let's ask Sanjay to comment." 

I kid, of course.

Making the Connection!

It's 11:18pm and I just got back from my last event for the day. It has been a long but great day. This has been a day of making and remaking connections. I met many people who I have known by email or blog, but never in person until today. That's cool, because the conversation just picks up where it was before.

Thanks to EM Sky for being my connector and evangelist for the Fayetteville Library talk - they are delightful people and the library has a lot of wonderful energy.

Thanks to Karen and James for making the long drive to come to my talk. It was so great to meet you in person.

Thanks to Craig for being the connector and evangelist for the Birmingham event (he is here in Atlanta for the ASTD conference, so I just met him today).

At the ASTD conference, Keith Ferrazzi was the morning keynote speaker. He did a great job as always. I like the way he stresses the importance of intimacy in business relationships and says it, "go deep fast." Get beyond the chit chat quickly.  I love his book Never Eat Alone and am grateful to Keith for writing the forward to Focus Like a Laser Beam.

My brain is fried and I have an 8:15am event, so bye bye for now.