Ever since grade school, I've been taught that the world is round. Proof of this concept abounds in modern times. So when I began reading Thomas L. Friedman's The World Is Flat, I braced myself for radical ravings from a person on the fringe of scientific theory. But by the time I finished the book, I too became a believer. The world really is flat, and Friedman has proof.
Before you call your grade school teacher to ask for your money back, read Friedman's book. The author's conclusions are based on global economics, not astronomy. The physical world is still as round as it was yesterday, but our global economic world is becoming flatter with each passing day. This three-time Pulitzer Prize winning author from The New York Times effectively defends his position using interviews and real-world economic situations, and provides us with his list of what he writes are "ten forces that flattened the world".
Friedman's revelation came during an interview with Nandan Nilekani, Infosys Technologies Limited CEO in India. As Friedman writes "He said to me, "Tom, the playing field is being leveled." He meant that countries like India are now able to compete for global knowledge work as never before--and that America had better get ready for this." In Friedman's analysis he writes "the playing field is being leveled", which led him to conclude, as he writes, "My God, he's telling me that the world is flat!" Further analysis and integration of thoughts from his previous book The Lexus and the Olive Tree led him to examine the history of globalization, from which he produced a timeline that he writes "shows there have been three great eras of globalization". As he explains, from 1492 until around 1800 we had Globalization 1.0 where countries and governments led the way to breaking down walls (countries globalizing). From around 1800 to 2000 we had Globalization 2.0, when multinational companies went global for markets and labor, led by technological innovations (companies globalizing). Then, starting around 2000, technology had progressed sufficiently that it now allowed individuals to collaborate globally, which he calls Globalization 3.0. As Friedman writes, "the force that gives it its unique character - is the newfound power for individuals to collaborate and compete globally. And the phenomenon that is enabling, empowering, and enjoining individuals and small groups to go global so easily and so seamlessly is what I call the flat-world platform".
Now at the same time as the author opens your eyes to the concept that the world is flat, he hits you with another concept that again challenges your accepted perceptions. Friedman has determined that the world is getting smaller. As he writes "Globalization shrank the world from a size large to a size medium....Globalization 2.0 shrank the world from a size medium to a size small....and Globalization 3.0 is shrinking the world from a size small to a size tiny, and flattening the playing field at the same time". Again, his conclusions are in terms of global economics, not physics. In other words, globalization has made all of us neighbors, even though we are sometimes separated by many thousands of miles.
Friedman utilizes a large portion of his book (approximately 150-pages of the 635-page book) to provide us with "Ten Forces That Flattened the World", which he writes are "the convergence of ten major political events, innovations, and companies". The obvious importance of these forces to the author is apparent by the number of pages he utilizes to discuss them.
Although some technology and economic historians may feel other momentous events were excluded, there is likely little argument that all of Friedman's flatteners greatly contributed to technology globalization and collaboration, and made our world flatter and smaller.
If I were to find one fault with the book, it would be how Friedman seems to minimize the negative effects of the flattening world on the workforces of developed countries. Friedman writes "while there may be a transition phase in certain fields, during which wages are dampened in developing countries, there is no reason to believe that this dip will be permanent or across the board, as long as the global pie keeps growing". There seem to be a large number of assumptions that need to fall into place for his anticipated developing country workforce advantages to materialize during this transition. He includes no speculation or theories on how long these transitions will take, and how developed societies will effectively handle the huge labor disruptions during this transition.
Friedman also discusses David Ricardo, writing "the English economist who developed the free-trade theory of comparative advantage, which stipulates that if each nation specializes in the production of goods in which it has a comparative cost advantage and then trades with other nations for the goods in which they specialize, there will be an overall gain in trade and overall income levels should rise in each trading country". Friedman's only recognition of the potential societal impact in developed countries is when he writes "a policy of free trade, while necessary, is not enough by itself. It must be accompanied by a focused domestic strategy aimed at upgrading the education of every American, so that he or she will be able to compete for the new jobs in a flat world".
When discussing his opinion that the larger market will provide new opportunities for the displaced workers, he writes that "it won't happen overnight, so some American knowledge workers may be affected in the transition, but the effects will not be permanent". His also writes "those American low-skilled workers doing fungible jobs - jobs that can easily be moved to China - will have a problem. There is no denying this. Their wages are certain to be depressed.....They will have to upgrade their education and upgrade their knowledge skills so that they can occupy one of the new jobs sure to be created in the much expanded United States--China market".
So in essence, he sees globalization as having a huge positive effect on developing countries, citizens, and global companies, and a potentially large negative effect on already developed countries, citizens, and small domestic businesses if their governments and workers do not take the change seriously and put into effect programs to minimize the impact.
Friedman closes with a personal reflection on what he writes was the "saddest day of his life" when he dropped off his daughter entering college, and realizes, as he writes "I was dropping my daughter off into a world that was so much more dangerous than the one she had been born into".
As he writes, "The flattening of the world, as I have tried to demonstrate in this book, has presented us with new opportunities, new challenges, new partners, bus also, alas, new dangers, particularly for Americans......We Americans will have to work harder, run faster, and become smarter to make sure that more of us are able to connect and compete, collaborate and innovate on the flat-world platform--and derive all the benefits it has to offer. But remember: the most important competition is now with yourself--making sure that you are always striving to get the most out of your own imagination, and then acting on it."
Friedman's advice to his daughter seems to reflect what he feels others should be telling their children; as he writes "I can tell you what I say to my own (children): The world is being flattened. I didn't start it and you can't stop it, except at a great cost to human development and your own future. But you can tilt it, and shape it, for better or for worse....You can flourish in this flat world, but it does take the right imagination and the right motivation"
So whatever you think of the authors' perceptions, thoughts, and underlying motivations, the concepts he provides concerning the flattening and shrinking of the world seem to be accurately reflected in many of our lives. The effects of globalization, whether positive or negative, are a daily career and personal reality most of us have to face. There is no argument that our lives are profoundly different than they were at the start of the millennium, and that we are all trying to quickly absorb the changes and keep up with their resulting impact on our lives. This book has certainly opened my eyes to the rapidly changing business environment we are all experiencing from the front row. But having the best seat in the house doesn't make the acceptance any easier.
The concepts presented by Friedman in The World is Flat are likely viewed by some as prophetic and by others as lunacy, but the facts are that we are all personally witnessing profound global changes unlike anything that our forefathers could have imagined. When we wake up each morning, the world is different than it was the night before. Whether or not we are ready to accept these changes, the reality is that the world is changing and evolving right before our eyes, and these changes are likely to profoundly change all of our lives, some for the better, and some for the worse.
So if you are a victim of the new economic world developing as a result of globalization, are about to enter this new global workforce, or are trying to better understand the new globally competitive environment and how it might affect your job in the future, I recommend reading The World is Flat. You might not agree with his positions, and you might reject his analysis, but he will give you a new perspective on what the future may hold for all of us
