The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman (2005, Hardcover)

The World is Flat is worth it's weight in gold for those who seek to not only improve their understanding of how the world will change, but how it has already changed. Friedman's uses the metaphor of a "flat world" to describe the leveling that is occurring across global economies, including both developed and "undeveloped" countries.

In the book, Friedman highlights ten shifts - or flatteners - that are influencing livelihoods and the way of life of people throughout the world.

Some of the interesting flatteners Friedman refers to include the fall of the Berlin Wall, introduction of Netscape, the open-source software movement, offshoring and insourcing.

Friedman does a great job of drawing on his personal experiences and travels in this book. He includes dozens of stories based on accounts and interactions with individuals throughout the world. One example is a meeting with the head of an accounting firm in Bangalore, India. The firm has a talented staff of CPA-equivalents who prepare tax returns for Americans. The individual indicates to Friedman that his next venture is a company that transmits CAT scans via the Net so patients around the world can get an inexpensive second opinion on a health diagnosis.

Friedman highlights that while the trends shaping globalization were identified long ago, they truly converged at the start of this century in a way that is accelerating the pace of change. In other words - the change we're seeing is not new news, but the rate at which this change is taking hold and the speed at which this change is affecting livelihoods is unprecedented.

The book is filled with fun examples of companies that are shaping global economic integration, including Wal-Mart, McDonald's and JetBlue. For example, there is a McDonald's in Missouri with a drive through where instead of sending an order to a kid with a headphone no more than steps away, the order goes to a call-center in Colorado. In addition to the order, a digital photo is included to help the server at the drive-up match the order with the customer; McDonald's claims that this model has increased their efficiency per order by 30 seconds and reduced their errors in half. The other examples are just as interesting.

Friedman emphasizes that the best way for workers in developed countries to remain competitive and globally employable is to gain additional skills and expertise. Moving up the value chain will allow individuals and companies to attract a price premium for their talents and specialized services. A good example that he highlights is that of UPS. UPS is in the business of parcel delivery and logistics; however, they have also deployed a model where they repair computers at a distribution center on behalf of a major customer. UPS has applied their supply chain expertise to a new service line, and have thus launched an entirely new revenue line.

Finally, the books is filled with a good references to history and the lessons that it can teach us. There is a clear premise that continued global economic integration cannot be stopped, and attempts to prevent change will be at the expense of economic well being. He highlights specific examples of this over the past hundred years, comparing closed economies to open economies, and indicating how America can do more to position ourselves to compete more effectively in the global arena.