Great insights to help us understand the flattening of the world caused by technology!

This book seeks to bring forth the role that technology is playing in opening up doors for communication and international business. The book demonstrates how the emerging economies of China and India are increasingly challenging the rest of the world and the established economies, thanks to the prevalent penetration of technology.

I think Friedman has some of the best insights into the immense role that technology is playing to change the dynamic of the world economy. He does show how technology has become an inevitable part of doing business and that any company or nation that fails to embrace this will be overtaken by the imminent changes. I like the fact that he gives good examples of how real-life companies are making use of technology and staying competitive. This is a good read for any entrepreneur, regardless of your field or location, managers and executives will find this book immensely insightful.

My only criticism is that Friedman fails to address the setbacks and challenges that the increasing prominence of technology may play. He only mentions this in passing when he talks about terrorists using technology for their own purposes. He also does not talk about the censorship issues in China and the gaping matter of net neutrality. It would be great to see an updated version of it as since its publication in 2007 so many things changed.

This book should be required reading for everyone. Friedman's political leaning is obvious (which may be off-putting to some), but his many flat-world examples are impossible to ignore. At the very least, people should be discussing the educational changes needed to help us all compete.

There are some people in the world who are born cynic. They are too fussy about everything they are (most often NOT) expected to express views on. They can give an hour lecture on the emptiness of a half-filled glass and still won't be tired of it.

Now, there is another category of men, who are exactly opposite of them. They are more than required positive. The half filled glass looks to them as a lake of chilled coconut milk. They are at awe at everything and talk excitedly exaggerating everything that cuts their view. I don't know what you call them. Born appreciator? Whatever! I think you got the point.

Many business people fall into this category. No No. Not the salesmen. They just appear like those. But internally they might have a facet of a cynic. I am talking about those who are high up, who make up their day by picking some key words and relentlessly going on and on about how great they think about those.

In my opinion, Thomas L. Friedman, the famous author of "The World is Flat", is also one of them.
"Now, Technology has shrunken the world. Changing perspectives have enabled the businessmen to take their businesses out of their regional boundaries. Financial decisions are more profit oriented than driven by nationalism." - with this premise Friedman has written an entire book with so much zeal and research, that it has become like text book material for many people who never forget to mention that they have done a Masters in Business Administration during their introduction.

Regarding the book, it is a good read. You will find yourself nodding, just like me, with what is written most of the time. Initially I thought my nodding was a token of appreciation, later it turned out to be the result of dozing.

Anyway, the book is very well written and hence, a good read. With so much data, anecdotes, experiences, you would love to agree with it more often than otherwise.

The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century. is an interesting book by Thomas Friedman. I read this book shortly after I returned from Thailand. As such, my view of the book is different than it may have been. I do not share all of his views regarding globalization, but I am glad that I read this book. Also, this was a year ago so it has already become a part of a mass of information gathered from other books (inside of my head). That is why I decided to go back and review as many books as possible. I would like to remember where I read a given idea. Anywho, this review will not encompass this book so I recommend that you read it. I will say that the author provides a great summary of the 10 forces that he believes “flattened the world.” Including:

The Ten Forces That Flattened the World

1. 11/9/89 - When the Walls Came Down and the Windows Went Up

2. 8/9/95 – When Netscape Went Public

3. Work Flow Software

4. Open-Sourcing

5. Outsourcing

6. Offshoring:

7. Supply-Chaining

We get what we want. In season, out of season. Most of us don’t even know what, if anything, is in season in our communities. We want tomatoes, mangoes, and strawberries in January. We want them now. We want them cheaply. We want efficiency. So, we get them in our fancy plastic bags. They don’t taste right and they have a freakishly perfect appearance, but we have them anytime of day at most stores. Friedman points out that Wal-Mart is very efficient, in this regard. I do not shop at Wal-Mart. I used to. Most of my family does. I do not judge them for it, but I cannot shop there. They are the store to beat and so many companies look to them and change their own practices. Yes, I am a consumer. Yes, I sometimes shop at chain stores – hello Target, but I cannot stop into a Wal-Mart. It is a symbol of so much that I dislike. Also, I think their merchandize is so streamlined that it is crap-tastic!

This Wal-Mart topic is a bit of a cliché’ and causes an inner turmoil in most of us. Friedman describes it well:

“Yes, the consumer in us wants Wal-Mart prices, with all the fat gone. But the employee in us wants a little fat left on the bone, the way Costco does it, so that it can offer health care to almost all its employees, rather than just less than half of them, as Wal-Mart does. But the shareholder in us wants Wal-Mart’s profit margins, not Costco’s. Yet the citizen in us wants Costco’s benefits, rather than Wal-Mart’s, because the difference ultimately may have to be paid by society.” P221

“One can only hope that al the bad publicity Wal-Mart has received in the last few years will force it to understand that there is a fine line between a hyper efficient global supply chain that is helping people save money and improve their lives and one that has pursued cost cutting and profit margins to such a degree that whatever social benefits it is offering with one hand, it is taking away with the other.” P137.

8. Insourcing

This chapter was fascinating. I had noticed these things, but I hadn’t thought about the fact that this is “insourcing.” This is an interesting way that the small business folks can compete with the conglomerates. That central hub in Louisville is bringing in business.

9. In-forming

Hello, Google! “Google” a friend’s name and see what happens – not mine.

10. The Steroids – Digital, Mobile, Personal, and Virtual

He then discusses what he calls the” Quiet Crisis.” He describes ambition and education gaps that are present in our country. He makes a great point about the influence of mass media and the tendency for students to aspire to be celebrities and not innovators. Great quote:

“I was talking to a Chinese-American who works for Microsoft and has accompanied Bill Gates on visits to China. He said Gates is recognized everywhere he goes in China. Young people there hang from the rafters and scalp tickets just to hear him speak…In China today, Bill Gates is Britney Spears. In America today, Britney Spears is Britney Spears—and that is our problem.” P265

While I do not agree with every section of this book, I recommend that you read it. I would love to discuss it with you, but even if you don’t, keep the following thoughts in mind:

“While your lives have been powerfully shaped by 9/11, the world needs you to be forever the generation of 11/9—the generation of strategic optimist, the generation with more dreams than memories, the generation that wakes up each morning and not only imagines that things can be better but also acts on that imagination every day.” P269.

“So even though we can now imagine what could happen when we get on an airplane, we have to get on the plane anyway. Because the alternative to not getting on that plane is putting ourselves in our own cave. Imagination can’t just be about reruns. It also has to be about writing our own new script.” P450

This book didn’t depress me. It reminded me to keep striving for a more collaborative world.