The Mile High Club

I’ve done it!

I joined the mile high club!

It was amazing; I have always fantasized about it! Haven’t you?

How would it feel? Would it work? Where exactly would I be able to do it? Where would I stand? Would anyone see me? Would everyone see me? Would people be able to see anything? Is it even possible? Would it be a quickie or could I do the whole thing from start to finish?

It was my next big fantasy, my next frontier, my next innovation in action. I had already done it on top of a mountain, the Drakensburg to be specific. It’s always amazing out in the open. I’ve done it next to a swimming pool, in a car park, in a town hall (in fact many town halls from Pietermaritzburg to Bethlehem, from Port Elizabeth to Upington), I’ve done it on a train, I’ve done it on a bus, I’ve done it in a marquee, a tent, in a fire station, in a police station, and even a power station. I’ve done it at a nuclear power plant, on the ridge of a meteor crater, on a yacht in False Bay, a ship in the ocean, my smallest and most spontaneous place was a hastily cleaned out store room at Mike’s Kitchen in Parktown. It was extremely cramped but very intimate and loads of fun. On the other side of the scale I’ve done it in the Super Bowl!

I’ve done it in factories and casinos, warehouses and townhouses. I’ve done it in high school halls, primary schools, nursery schools, classrooms, with teachers in staff rooms and gyms. At shopping centres and malls, retail shops, offices, lobbies, basements, basement parking lots, under trees in gardens, I’ve done it at many universities, boma’s, lapas, and then also in The Dome.

I’ve done it at a Muslim school, many Jewish gatherings and guilds; I’ve even done it in a church! Yes, a church! Country clubs, golf courses, stadiums (in the actual stadium on the spectator seats), banks, next to bonfires in the Pilanesberg, on a train, on  game farms, on a chicken farm, in hospitals, on a rugby field, on a bus, in movie cinemas (very popular, being dark and all), in theatres, on a mine, in restaurants and bars, bed-and-breakfast establishments, in more hotels than I can count, up to and including five-star establishments like the Michelangelo in Sandton.

I did it in Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Sydney, Birmingham, London, Dubai, Argentina, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Swaziland, Namibia, Mozambique, Mauritius, and in most major cities and towns across the republic of South Africa (I haven’t done them all but I am close, very close!).

The one place I had never done it before was 10 km up in the air in a passenger aircraft, flying at 800 km/h. I have to admit it, I was very nervous and space was limited. She pulled back the curtain and there it was… I grabbed it in my right hand and moving slightly forward squeezed down hard on the nipple, I put it to my mouth and ……  I began to speak to the passengers on board the world’s first ever eco-fuel flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town. 

With tremendous gratitude to my client Sasol we, together, reached a new frontier. Not only did Sasol fly the very first eco-fuelled passenger flight in the world, but I became (as far as I know and as far as any of my international speaking buddies know)….. The first speaker in the world to do a keynote presentation on board a 737, passenger filled aircraft using the air crew announcing system.

I presented a talk on Innovation in Action whilst travelling from Johannesburg to Cape Town and then a presentation onMaking a Difference on the return flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg. It was a rush!! The sound could have been better, most of the people could see me, I stood in front of business class, it was scary at first, but I did it! I have officially joined the mile high club. I could even be the founding member of the International Speaking Mile High Club.

As many of you know Chink-ing or CHange, INnovation, and Kreativity is not only a keynote presentation I do, but forms a large part of my philosophy for life and all of my work.

Change and innovation however remain ideas and concepts until they are ACTION. Most speaking engagements normally consist of a dark room (a box) with no windows and one or two doors at the back. Not much you can do as far as innovation is concerned except perhaps dress the room or theme it. As you have seen above my philosophy is to stop thinking outside of the box and literally to start doing it outside of the box.

• So how do you, or are you activating your new ideas?
• How are you making your innovations come to life?
• What actions are you taking to make creativity a habit that lives and breathes in everything you do?
• Innovation without action is pointless!
• Thinking of new ways to invigorate your relationship is a waste of time – Love is an action!
• That is so important that I believe it should be restated Love is an ACTION.
• Thinking of innovative ways to generate new business is useless unless actions are taken.

Thinking of different policies and procedures that bring about customer satisfaction, loyalty and customer care are as useful as a fork when eating soup. Only by setting up fun, measurable, sustainable, routines and rituals that are enforced without exception is success guaranteed.

Always try to do it differently, and in a different place!

Have a great month!