So, I am utterly captivated by the aforementioned book by NY Times best selling author Thomas Friedman. His most recent version (3.0) of the work titled, “The World is Flat” addresses the “flattening” phenomenon that has been occurring over the past twenty years.
By saying “The World is Flat,” Freidman means that now anyone, anywhere, using something that can fit in their palm can plug, play, connect and compete with anyone else in the world instantly. This proposes some interesting dynamics, situations and problems for all of us.
He has 10 factors/events/trends or technologies that have made the world “flat,” they are-
#1) 11/9/89- The fall of the Berlin Wall
#2) 8/9/95- The day that Netscape went public
#3) Work Flow Software
#4) Uploading
#5) Outsourcing
#6) Offshoring
#7) Supply-Chaining
#8) Insourcing
#9) In-forming
#10) The Steroids- technological innovations.
“The convergence of the ten ‘flattners’ had created a… global, web-enabled platform for multiple forms of collaboration. This platform now operates without regard to geography, distance, time and even language... (it) enables individuals, groups, companies and universities anywhere in the world to collaborate- for the purposes of innovation, production, education research, entertainment, and, alas, war-making- like no other platform ever before…more people in more places now have the power to access the flat-world platform- to connect, compete, collaborate, and, unfortunately, destroy- that ever before.”
None of this would have been at all possible without the advances we have made in technology over the past two decades- he calls these “The Steroids.” Essentially, they boost, amplify and enhance the other flattners of the world by speeding up the interconnectivity of entities around the globe. All of this stems from the advancement of the world wide web.
Perhaps the most important steroid, or the one that I feel has the most impact on our daily lives and has the potential to consume us, is the wireless revolution. Now, with the advances in wireless technology we are fully mobile. We can send email, pictures, videos, from anywhere to anyone at any time. We can trade stock in Hong Kong while sitting in a coffee shop in Iowa. We can chat, in real time with friends from across the globe and virtually talk “face-to-face.” Truly there are no limits when you are wireless. Workers can now “telecommute,” are completely free from the walls of the working environment and are literally “de-linked” from the office.
Having spent the last couple of months working for a company whose broad customer base spans the globe I have witnessed this on a professional level. I was communicating with clients from Russia, France, Italy, Japan, Spain, Germany, etc without any barrier. Their emails, often sent from their cell phone, came through translated into English to my laptop. Depending on the time difference, the exchanges were instantaneous.
Conference calls take place from anywhere and everywhere- seven C-level executives gather in a board room in China to hear comments about the industry from our managing director in Boston while a researcher listened in from an airport in Germany. Product demos were available on the spot for our sales guys visiting Korea. With little to no notification, our product manager can hop on a call from anywhere with any number of people, demonstrating the usability of a database product in an online meeting where the clients can watch whats happening on your laptop screen- Incredible. My manager went to florida for two weeks for a “vacation.” She was online all day and through the wee hours of the night. Linked in either by her laptop or iPhone- seamless communication and direction were given for projects underway at the office.
The erosion of the former barriers to communication and business poses an interesting question and an underlying problem: Is there such thing as a true vacation? With the ability to access anyone, anywhere, at any time on their laptop, iPhone, Blackberry or pda can you really vaca? Sure, this provides an opportunity for more businesses to increase production and offers a 711 strategy (always open for business) but does that eventually eliminate your personal space and turn you into a work-a-holic? Does shutting off your Blackberry for a week mean you are totally free or does that make you even more of a slave to it?
This movement towards increased production and instant communication will engulf our generation- if it hasn’t already. I see people everyday surfing the web on their iPhone or typing away an email on their ‘Berry. Basically working on their way to work. Can you even account for the number of hours in a day that you spend working anymore? Is there such thing as normal business hours? Fundamentally, do these technological innovations set us free or do they shackle us to our job?
More discussion is on the way…
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5 comments:
Good stuff GB. This is a topic that we simply can't turn our heads from anymore as it has come to dominate the content of our day-to-day affairs and will continue to do so into the distant future. You pose some interesting questions to think about and hopefully I can add some insight to the discussion.
I'd like to start with two companies that never cease to blow me away: Facebook and Google. Little does the average user know it but these two companies are absorbing massive amounts of information from people every single day and using it to profit by selling it to third parties or using it to tailor advertisements to targeted customers. That wall post you wrote about John Doe being a faggat the other day? It's permanently stored on Facebook's servers that support that exact entry of data. But wait, you deleted it, so you're good to go right? Incorrect. I said permanently damnmit. How about the other day when you were so bored that you went searching for porn? Or maybe you weren't bored at all, but guess what, don't be surprised if you get inundated with emails telling you to check out this new porn site that will fulfill all of your pornography needs. The fact of the matter is, every piece of information you enter into the world wide web doesn't simply disappear, it gets used for some other purpose that you will never know about and that may be detrimental to your success as an individual in the long run. My brother works in the IT department for a hedge fund up in NYC and he has experienced first hand the negative implications of facebook users posting pictures of their private, excessive lifestyles. He has witnessed applicants get denied from job opportunities for this exact reason. The point is, just because it seems far-fetched or intangible doesn't necessarily mean it doesn't happen.
With that said, what has our world come to? Is technical innovation progressive or regressive in the long run? People are doing the same things that they always have been doing for generations and generations of time, but now it's publicly available for the world to scrutinize. Is it unfair that you didn't get the job and Sally did just because you followed a loose facebook privacy policy and Sally didn't, even though she's engaging in the same exact types of behavior? Personally I think it's completely unfair, but tis the world we live in and if you want to be successful you have to play by the rules.
The beginning of the dot-com boom began with Netscape's IPO around 1995, see GB's post for exact timing. Massive amounts of capital shifted to developing and installing software, servers, networks, websites, and the like. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, America's longest standing stock market index, soared to new heights that it had never seen before. Productivity, as measured by output per unit of labor, increased dramatically. Many new jobs were created so unemployment rates were low across the board. Clinton and his administration were prepared to test America's ability to expand economically to levels it had never seen before. Everything was great until sometime in 2001 shit hit the fan. A bubble had been forming for so long that eventually it had to pop, and sure as hell it did.
From this technology boom we set up an infrastructure that permits data transfer and communication in nanoseconds. We now have the tools at our disposal to be super-productive, emailing as we drive, text messaging at the gym, all while keeping up with family by sending cute pics of ourselves on the shitter. Yet is this really the lifestyle we envisioned before it was all possible? Did you really imagine yourself sending your grandmother a picture of your face that doesn't display the other naked half releasing poop into a toilet? I'm uncertain, and it scares me. What will it be like in 10 years? Will my newborn kids be sending ME pics of themselves while on the shitter? Commeahhn. The possibilities are endless and I wonder if in the long-run all of this "progress" will turn out to be regressive indeed.
From a purely economic perspective, information technology has raised America's standard of living extremely quickly. Like GB said, people can work from home, send/receive emails instantly, use software to store and process massive amounts of information, etc... More business is being done more effectively and efficient and the result: economic prosperity. But it's impossible to view the flat world in a pure economic sense because one cannot ignore the observed effects of IT on human interaction. So you're a millionaire that can buy anything you want - but are you happy? Do you enjoy passing time on the toilet by responding to your clients needs using your newly purchased iPhone? Do you enjoy spending time away from your family working diligently at the office so that your kids can buyout toys-r-us with one weeks worth of allowance? Take the money and run if you want, I'm going to start a fire and sleep outside tonight.
Come on, what are you two talking about? Lazy unemployed bastards, drinking all day, don't do anything, come on man!
No I am kidding, what is the 'off' in an day off? Turning of the notebook, mobile or is it all mental?
I guess we rest when we are dead...
day off means you physically don't have to be at work that day, but you may or may not have to be there mentally depending on the job. It used to be that a day off meant nothing work-related, mentally or physically, but now we've turned a page in the book and have to be there mentally (making calls/emails) even if we travel to the Bahamas for example. We call these vacation days in the United States Dutch Master Tyas, and our supposed vacation days are turning into battles with our wives. Ze Intelligent Americans
You guys are far too intelligent for your own good. GB, great question. A topic that can't be avoided in this day or time. Ian, amazing tie in. I wish I had the knowledge and history to go off on a tangent like you.
I guess I look at this in a more simplistic way. Now a days, work has become the lifestyle of choice. Your career is not necessarily just "what your good at", its what defines you. This crazy kid JMac was telling me about a highlight he saw on TV. It was a clip about the richest people in the working world, and the success behind business men of today. He said that people are going crazy, and getting depressed more so than ever before -- and for the weirdest of reasons. One guy was so unhappy with his life that regardless of the fact that he had all the money he could ever possibly want - it would never be enough. It got to a point where he was simply in competition with the other men around him to not necessarily afford what he wanted, but to have more 0's at the end of that paycheck.
Now I don't know much about the business world, and I don't pretend to. I'm a senior in college that probably should be a little more concerned about where the fuck I'm gonna be in a few years, or how many 0's will be at the end of my paycheck. But I know one thing and one thing only - I will never become a "workaholic". And that doesn't necessarily mean that I won't be thinking about my job or my professional responsibilities on a 24/7 basis, it means I will never title myself in such a negative fashion. A workaholic is kind of like a pothead (in regards to the way people look at it). Some people hear the word "pot head" and think unproductive, lazy, deadbeat. Others look at it and see openness, creativity or a positive soul. It's all how your interactions with certain individuals will play out to help shape and define your thoughts in each and every aspect of the word. When i think workaholic, I get the most uneasy feeling in my stomach. It kind of makes me cringe. How can someone dedicate their entire life and time to numbers, facts or figures. Is it more about the money? Or just wanting to be the best at what you do? B/c that question matters.
I do, however, see myself wanting to be the best I can be, obviously. Maybe I'll be in sales and regardless of where I am or what time it is I'll constantly be thinking of how to better my "pitch" or my product. But it won't be negative and it won't be excessive b/c I will still be able to enjoy myself and do what I want to do. GB your the king of acknowledging that "it's all mental". So does it matter if I physically turn off my phone or not? Well, that's up to you. But in the end, your going to involve yourself in whatever it is that you want to, and that's something that only you can control. So to each his own, keeping in mind that although technology advancements may make it more convenient or easier to cave in, its still in the palm of your hand. (In every sense of that saying!)
L nice post I like your approach and I think it adds a great element to the thread. Many things are mental in life despite the tools that are placed in front of us and a lot of the time it begins with a mental push to use the available tools. Not in 100% of cases but naturally it is a large, contributing factor. Yet I digress because I'd like to dig deeper and bring up the topic of professional work and happiness...
If you ever get the chance try to watch these specials they have on CNBC during the American Greed show that pertain to America's wealthiest individuals and how they define their lives. If you look at the stats it's truely amazing how many the rich account for in terms of percentage of the nation's wealth and the number of individuals that constitute this abundance of wealth. It's because America presents that opportunity and people use its capitalistic conduit to achieve their goals to become insanely wealthy. However, even though the opportunity is there, it poses a risk to your overall well-being and your ability to maintain a constant level of happiness. Will I work more to reach that next level of rich status or will I focus on being content with the average of my output? Why do we work so hard? Why does America work harder than any other country in the world? Why are we the richest and most resource abundant country in the world? Is it capitalism? Is it free-market capitalism with little government intervention or is more govt intervention better? At what point do we become irrational and bend the realities of the economic models that assume our race is a completely rational one? These are some interesting questions to think about as they sort of lead way to a greater question: could we advance so quickly that we ourselves as a race are responsible for our own demise? Are our individual greedy natures in essence adding up to a level of greediness that can't be supported anymore?
Some of those questions are far-reaching and interesting to think about but I'd like to return to the effect on our race in terms of its current condition. Making way back to the original point on CNBC which I never finished, this is how rich people work: as they build wealth and enter into new classification bands of wealthiness they compare their financial status to those who are currently a part of their band. As they become richer and build even more wealth, they redefine themselves and begin to compare themselves to the new, higher band of wealth that they have just entered. Can you see the trend here? You never win, you're never happy. You keep getting richer and richer and nothing is ever good enough. You own 10 different types of porches but your neighbor owns 11, you're a fucking loser, get wealthier. It's the same concept as this: for us kids who were raised under affluent conditions, can you look at your life and thank the Lord over and over and over because you aren't striving to earn a piece of bread each day? I don't think you really can. It's all relative to the lifestyle you have become accustomed to based on a combination of your nature and nurture. Now bring this idea back to rich people and you can see how pointless it would be for a billionaire hedge fund manager in NYC to compare his wealth to a school teacher is Fairfax County. Peer groups or wealth bands form and you can quickly identify the group that you belong to based on your position in society. And that's exactly why having loads of cash isn't always good enough. I always tell people this and this is how i'm going to end this puppy off: "If I won the lottery and was entitled to $500 million dollars, I'd rip that fucking ticket in half." Sound crazy? What if money meant nothing to you....
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