The World is Flat

Ever since I’ve become aware of the straight-line communication and work sharing qualities of web-based interface, I’ve been declaring that the world is flat.  And now I’ve found out I’m not the only one saying it.

In his new book, The World Is Flat—A Brief History Of The Twenty-First Century, Thomas L. Friedman, the three times Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for The New York Times explains that he came to that conclusion after talking to business people in Bangalore, India about how technology has leveled the international playing field.  It’s a must read for anyone who wants to get a quick grip on all of what’s simultaneously making the world both smaller and more overwhelming every day.

Columbus set out to find a route to India and in failing proved the world was round.  Thomas Friedman went to India to try to figure out why American was losing so many jobs to out sourcing and discovered that small businesses can access the same intellectual resources as big companies, minds can meet in an instant, and two soft wear applications can communicate and do work from half way around the world as if they were housed in the same lap top on the same lap.

That’s what I call flat.  The shortest distance between two points is a straight line—a very short straight line connecting companies and individuals with virtual resources from anywhere around the globe 24/7/365.

Organizations are being pancaked. Silos, departments, and top down management systems are being replaced with quicker, smarter, more self-directed teams.  Each person is accountable to the person sitting beside him on the team.  The team is accountable to it’s own per forma.  Bureaucracy is squashed flat on a team where the light shines on everyone. No one can hide in a meritocracy. This team concept is part of the secret to our success.

Marketing is switching from vertical to horizontal selling. No longer do clients put their money in two buckets: mass media and whatever is left over.  We’ve been using this horizontal marketing approach since we started.  Figure out whom you want to reach then surround them with insightful messages.  Hit them from every angle—in every channel straight through to the consumer.

Will you be flattened or stand up to all the steam rolling? Thomas Friedman puts it well when he calls America’s young people to be “the generation of strategic optimists, 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.”

I like to say it this way: be opportunistic; be improvisational.  Or find yourself just part of the pavement.

That’s it, from the edge of the world.

Bob

Comments

[Rajesh]

Interesting Westerner perspective.