Change (in all its abstract and tangible forms) is inexorable, often burning and paralyzing. Yet it should neither daunt and petrify us, nor nip our bold actions in the bud. This epoch, this state of affairs, this seemingly unassailable global madness in human history engulfing a debilitating sense of unfamiliarity and stupor, is what internationally acclaimed newspaper columnist, Thomas Friedman, reveals in his brilliant and audacious writing of The World Is Flat. Friedman employs the metaphor of the flat world to describe how globalization--taken up to an almost sky-scraping height and down to an even more unimaginable depth--has levelled the “playing field” and made possible not only the “virtual” compression of geographic space and time, but also the incorporation of the world's total population into a lattice of connectivity and collaboration. Exceptionally provocative and amusing, Friedman has once again proven to be an author of magnificent possibilities, using a newfangled framework that stirs every reader to feel, see and think beyond.

A lot of the olden times' voyages spurred by imperialistic powers' quest for gold ingots and spices have avowed that the world was round. Navigators were incredibly overwhelmed at their “circular” expeditions, that they got their pointers on ink and conveyed their “rounded” hypotheses (in writing) in no less than a jiffy of their state of bewilderment. Centuries later, a valiant soul from the fringes of journalism proves otherwise: the world is flat. So flat, you could almost sink your teeth into it.
Friedman brings to light this flat-world platform, a phenomenon that has enabled and enjoined--and continues to do so at an irrepressible speed--not just countries or companies but more importantly, individuals, to go global very easily and
seamlessly, through innovations in information technology such as the personal computer, fiber-optic cables, and work flow software. This “IT boom” has resulted in the massive digitization of information, creating a plinth where intellectual capital and
knowledge-intensive products could be produced, disaggregated, distributed, put back together again, and delivered from anywhere at any point in time.

1. The Fall of the Wall and the Waging of the Windows

With the Berlin Wall erected so sturdily (and stubbornly at that), a population of Germany had been relegated to an overcast portion of the globe, eyes shut to the “other” side of the world where, much to their chagrin, the sun was shining brightly. But came the day of its crumbling, and we saw people liberated from the twilight of their existence. Not only did this unleash forces that ultimately released the masses from the bonds of communism; it actually caused the naissance of democratic advocacy, consensual governance and a free-market economy.

This was a pioneering flattener as it allowed people to see not a divided world but a seamless whole. It primarily ushered in a global view of the future. The effect was felt not only in Germany; it somehow rippled and spilled-over to other nations of Latin America and the Soviet Empire, in India, and China, where people had been enduring the manacles of socialism and authoritarian rule. It was a sort of chain reaction, and no sooner did these countries' economies started opening up to global
capitalism and taking advantage of its benefits. Pitted against this period was the unstoppable urge to somehow escape and reach out to the so-called “other” world. By some sheer trace of luck, information began to slip through the “wall” using fax machines, telephones and later on, the personal computer. With the launch of the first Windows operating system in 1985, the desire to amass information and communicate became more manifest. Such desire has been enhanced as people gradually authored their content and turned it in digital form. This bolstered the flattening mechanism of the fall of the Wall. Both initiated a huge leap in personal empowerment.

2. The Dawn of Connectivity: When Webs were No Longer for Spiders

When people learned of the Windows-enabled PC, they were definitely in for an exhilarating high. But with the emergence of the Internet as a tool for global connectivity, they sure are up for a hangover. This breakthrough has allowed people to take their digital content and transmit it to others at a soaring speed and a very low cost. Glazing this prodigy was the inception of the World Wide Web as a virtual realm where individuals could post their digital content so it could be accessed by almost anyone from any part of the globe. One could just imagine how this episode has taken people by storm and practically brought human beings regardless of location, color, or ideological proclivities closer to each other. The good part doesn't end here. People just came looking for more information: few are just not enough. Much thanks to commercial web browsers kicked off by Netscape. Individuals immediately found themselves hooked with anybody's Website on the Internet, and in no time, they were able to interact and be in touch with more other people anywhere on the planet. This was another juncture that jazzed up that flattening of the world. It unlocked another door to a collaborative world.

3. Work Flow Software: Don't Mind the Difference and the Distance

Most of the time, man could not just be contented even if he already plays so well within his hinterland. The same goes for companies whose CEO's felt that there was more to just “digitizing” information. Apparently, computer systems for accounting data would be in stark contrast for those, say, in human resources, sales and marketing or procurement. This reality has, in one way or another, been a big slap to the genius of management. They may be digitally-attuned but in the core of operations, a major dilemma breeds. As such, companies sought for a sort of infrastructure against which the system disparities between departments, units or even regional branches are outstripped, and CEO's would never have to worry about attempts at overhaul just because one mechanism can't operate with another. Through ingenuities in software engineering, “work flow software” brought in that once-thought-to-be-impossible uniform digital content in spite of distance and differences in the nature of work. It carried out transmission protocols and standards for interoperability. This contributed to the flattening of the world as more people are able to liaise and take part in a digital endeavor.

4. Uploading: Redefining the Multi-Colored Post-Its

Friedman cited three forms of uploading:

All these examples are huge flatteners as they responde d to a very deep human longing for individuals to involve themselves and make their voices heard louder than ever before.

5. Outsourcing: Bringing Home the Bacon through Somebody Else's Hands

Outsourcing instructed America that any service, call center, business support operation, or knowledge work that could be digitized could be sourced globally to the cheapest, smartest and most efficient provider. Using fiber-optic-cable-connected workstations, Indian IT experts could now get under the hood of American computers and do all the adjustments even if they were located halfway around the world.

6. Offshoring: Taking it over to the Cut-Rate Waters

When China formally joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, it meant that it agreed, in principle, to make its own competitive playing field as level as the rest of the world. When the country first opened its tightly closed economy to foreign investment, companies in industrialized countries saw it as a fantastic new market for exports. This scenario also guaranteed multinational firms that if they shifted factories offshore to China, they would not just be cutting down on production costs and increase their efficiency but simultaneously be protected by international law and standard business practices. This, according to Friedman, likewise improved China's attractiveness as a manufacturing platform.