The World is Flat

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…