The World Is Flat, it's just not that I am answering my own blog title but reading the title of a book written by Thomas L. Friedman in '07. I am going thru it now after it collected a thin layer of dust in my shelf. I have to say, it is quite interesting with his introduction of Ten Flatteners. Each one he goes thru in detail, how Netscape turned the world towards clickable information, Google's incredible power of searching anything on the web, and the insourcing and outsourcing activity etc. In summary: Digitization, Virtualization and Automation of everything.
Bottom line message is: Change is hard. Change is hardest on those caught by surprise. Change is hardest on those who have difficulty changing too. But change is natural; change is not new; change is important. And that is why the greatest challenge for our time will be to absorb these changes in ways that do not overwhelm people but also do not leave them behind. None of this will be easy. But this is our task. It is inevitable and unavoidable. It is the ambition of this book to offer a framework for how to think about it and manage it to our maximum benefit.
I don't want to plagiarize the entire material but I thought it would help lot of my naive friends who are upset and mad about activities such as offshoring, outsourcing, China and India and so on. Tom gives a good way to look at the situation and how to deal with changing times. He calls it funnily, how to become untouchable. How to recognize the dead-end jobs and move to an occupation that may help win a bread. As you know, not all jobs can be outsource-able and offshore-able. Not every job can be completely automated, digitized and virtualized. When the going is tough, tough get going... dig inside!
I will end up luring you to read his book with some of his quotes, What I tell my own girls? When I was growing up, my parents used to say to me, "Tom, finish your dinner. People in China and India are starving." Today I tell my girls, "Finish your homework. People in China and India are starving for your jobs."
And that's the only thing to tell people. That's the fact. I always say, "When the world goes flat, reach for a shovel, not a wall." Dig inside yourself. Dig inside your company. Find the secret of the sauce inside. If you're reaching for a wall, it's a losing strategy because the technology is going to blow that wall down.
Note: I like to hear your genuine thoughts on this. Don't flame me, as I do understand some of you out there who's job has been outsourced.
Elevator (aka lift) by definition a vertical transport vehicle that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building. OK, now that we are done with the definition part of it, we can safely move to the ridiculous part of it. Well I am not exactly ridiculing the elevators...
Anyway, did you ever observe the unwritten elevator etiquette out there in the society? When we go in front of the elevator or inside the elevator suddenly all our idiosyncrasies make the best of us. Even the most sociable person forgets how to greet or talk in front of the elevators with other strangers. The quick wit fades off with a duh resounding in the brain...
Consider the situation, you are standing in front of the elevator and there are others waiting there already and the elevator button is lit. Everybody mechanically be looking at the top of the elevator or impatiently press the already lit button as if pressing harder or pressing more times make any thing change. That ugly waiting, ugly silence and if you catch somebody's eyes that uneasy or constipated looks or smiles. At the best an odd hi or hello try to pop, even that you just wanted not to say but too many stares from that person made you do that...
Consider another situation, you are talking loudly on your cell phone and suddenly the elevator door opened and it's packed with people and there is room just for you. You suddenly become fidgety and have to disconnect the phone. Not many people talk in the elevators, they all try to avoid the existence of others and everybody look up desperately for their floor to come.
If you are walking with others and talking jovially and laughing loud all that will go away when you enter an elevator with one stranger. Everyone suddenly find themselves in some awkward position and stare. And, there are few they make it a point to be very nice to others by offering to press the buttons and say have a nice day or some other clever joke about politics or weather or commenting on the dress, shoes and even hairdos. Some even get embarrassed to talk in their native languages because that's a complete no in their minds. Some are even fun to watch with their bluetooth sticking to their ears and talking in a low pitch as if they are mumbling to themselves like mad people.
In fact, you can do so many weird things when you find yourselves with strangers in constrained corners. I can think of so many but there is this list you can try next time when you find yourself fidgety or staring up or pressing too many buttons or the same button in frustration or find yourself dumbfounded.
Even elevators have ups and downs!
