Is the World Flat, Spiky, or Somewhere In Between?
In examination of the opening chapters of Tom Friedman’s The World Is Flat 3.0,
it is interesting to make comparisons to Richard Florida’s article “The
World is Spiky”. Having spent the
bulk of the past 15 years as a telecommuter and many of those for a global
company, Friedman’s book truly resonated with me.
With the ability to connect virtually to all of my
colleagues, here in New York, my director in Richmond, Virginia, or my
colleagues on the West Coast, I am able to work efficiently and effectively
right from my home office. When I worked
for my previous employer, I had colleagues in Hyderabad in India as well as in
Manila in the Philippines with whom I worked on a regular basis. Internet technology ‘flattened’ our world and
allowed me to work with these professionals, sometimes synchronously though
often asynchronously via e-mail and messaging due to time differences.
There is a negative to this connectivity to work
however. Being connected to work 24/7
means you’re at work 24/7. There can be
expectations that you answer when called upon regardless of the time or
place. For example, if someone in
Hyderabad needs something of you during their work hours, they sometimes forget
that you are not available during those hours.
This constant connectivity can create expectations of being ‘on’ all the
time, which is not a positive for those that work in this environment.
It is only natural that certain areas of the world would be
‘spiky’ as Florida discusses, just as there are parts of our country now that
are more technologically savvy than others.
Although the world is becoming ‘flatter’, it is not completely
flat. Clay Shirky discusses this
phenomenon in his TED Talk regarding the effect of cellphones and social media
on access to information (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_iN_QubRs0&feature=youtu.be). His discussion of the application of media
sharing in China from the earthquake was a particularly pertinent example of
the ‘flattening’ of the world. We were
receiving information and images that likely would never have been shared, as
well as information regarding the shoddy construction of the schools that led
to their collapse and the death of so many children. Thousands of children were killed in schools
built in a corrupt system were amongst thousands of others dead and missing (http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-22398684)
and the world was able to see this tragedy unfold. The public was also able to witness the
censorship of the Chinese government firsthand as they shut down protests
against the corruption and closed off this public form of communication.
Shirky seems to lean more toward Friedman and the ‘flat’
concept, as he discusses our interconnectivity with one another. We are not only having a back and forth
conversation with those sharing messages with us, but also with those that may
be receiving those messages. A great
example of this is a blog post. You may
head out to a great blog to read an interesting article, read some of the
comments posted, and then have some conversation with one of the commenters as
well as the blogger. In examining this
type of technology, the world is quite flat.
Friedman and Florida publications are still somewhat
relevant, but are changing. There is
more outsourcing and offshoring now than in 2004/2005 when Friedman seemed to
be doing research for this book. Florida’s
information is likely still quite pertinent regarding patents, population and
economics, and scientific citations.
However, as Shirky pointed out in his talk, tech transfer can happen
anywhere, even from Nigeria to the US. You
don’t have to have a great deal of money or a ‘fancy’ smartphone to make good
use of technology.
References:
Florida, R. (2005, October 1). The World is Spiky. The
Atlantic.
Sichuan 2008: A disaster on an immense scale. (2013, May 8).
BBC News. Retrieved June 27, 2014, from
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-22398684
The World Is Flat Summary. (2013, September 18). Retrieved June 27, 2014, from
http://www.wikisummaries.org/The_World_Is_Flat
Jill - you are spot on with your comments about being 'on' 24/7. I remember my dad going to work in the morning and coming home at night. Sometimes he would have work to do at home, he would setup a card table in the living room with all his legal pads and do what needed to be done, but that was the exception, not the rule. Most often, when he left work, he left work behind.
ReplyDeleteI contrast that with my job where the first thing I do when I get home from work is check my phone to see what emails I missed on my drive home. I check my email several times in the evening, then pull out my laptop after the kids have gone to bed to get some 'real' work done. I read my email first thing in the morning before getting out of bed. I love that I have the flexibility to do work from home, allowing me more time outside of the office, but the tradeoff is that I work quite a few more hours per week than my dad did growing up.
In this case, technology has certainly simplified communications, as Friedman suggests, but hasn't necessarily simplified life.
With my last employer, I got to the point at night I'd hear my computer go 'bing' in the office at night, I'd go in to see what the message was, and I'd typically re-enter the bedroom to an unpleasant conversation from my husband. I left that job about 8 months ago, but my new job isn't much different. Working from home means I'm always at work, unfortunately. I have more down time when I'm on the road teaching than I do when I'm home.
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ReplyDeleteIf Friedman wrote his book today it would be slightly different because of the rapid advancement of technology. Todays military sees the importance of maintaining access to the web for military operations. Of the 2015 military budget 1 percent is dedicated to Cyber Operations. http://fcw.com/articles/2014/03/04/budget-defense.aspx
ReplyDeleteInformation warfare and cyber warfare are words in today’s lexicon that are often misused but the truth is that since the Department of Defense is aware of this fact they are pulling out all the stops in order to be able to operate in wants now being characterized as the fifth domain. Friedman was correct on explaining the impact of technology across all areas from business, health, supply chain and military.
I believe that he may have written a chapter about cyber security considerations. Thanks
For you viewpoint on this.
Eric
Jill, we will return to this concept of "always on 24/7" in a few weeks as we look at leadership of wired workers. What I find interesting is that the first time I taught this course for Creighton, I did not have any students who primarily worked via the web with colleagues worldwide. In a short 4 years, it has now become common for me to have students like you in my class. In some ways, that signifies the rapid change occurring (at least for me).
ReplyDeleteI would agree with you that Shirky leans toward the Flat model of Friedman. I found it interesting that the factors that both Florida and Friedman discuss are the forces that are causing their very own theories to evolve. The social media world is a massive connector that we can use to smooth out the spikes. As people connect and more information is shared across the physical boundaries of the world, more and more people will be connected to the larger world. Let the tech transfer begin!
ReplyDeleteJK
Hello Jill!
ReplyDeleteReally interesting post! I’m curious, in your work environment how do you “unplug” yourself from the connectivity of work? As technology and the Internet continue to evolve, I expect more organizations will want to offer the opportunity to work at home which will require 24/7 access to the employee. Personally, I’m not a fan of this. My former supervisor was a workaholic. He would send out emails at 11:00pm and expect answers from me by 7:00am. With technology, the barrier between time and space has disappeared in the work environment. In order to use technology effectively, it requires people to be disciplined in maintaining balance between work and family life.
Great question about "unplugging". I don't typically, and sadly. That being said, I actually don't have any employees, and when I did, I would never expect them to put in the time I'm expected to put in. I wouldn't say I'm a workaholic as I absolutely despise the fact that this is expected of me - it's just simply the expectation in my industry. It is sad, hence the reason I'm looking to complete this program and get out of this area of work. Good example - I've been on vacation this week, and I was asked 1) to do work on my cruise vacation (I told them no) and 2) I received 43 e-mails from my boss while I was gone. Just craziness!! If I could simply unplug and walk away without walking away with a pink slip, I'd do it in a moment :)
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