BOOK SUMMARY: THE WORLD IS FLAT BY THOMAS FRIEDMAN

SHORT SUMMARY (Synopsis)

In Part I, How the World Became Flat, Friedman visits India, where he realizes that the playing field
has been leveled, meaning that a much larger group of people can compete for global knowledge. He
pursues examples of this metaphor in other places, such as Iraq, China, Japan, and the United States.
Friedman argues that there are primarily ten forces that flattened the world and describes each of the
following flatteners: 11/9/89, the fall of the Berlin Wall; 8/9/95, or the date that Netscape went
public; work flow software; uploading; outsourcing; offshoring; insourcing; in-forming; and the
steroids. Next Friedman explores what he calls the triple convergence, or the way the ten flatteners
converged to create an even flatter global playing field. The first convergence encompasses how the
ten flatteners came together in such a way that they created a global, Web-enabled platform that
allows for multiple forms of collaboration. The second convergence is the appearance of a set of
business practices and skills that make the most of the ten flatteners, thus enhancing the flatteners
potential. The third convergence is the entrance of some three billion people onto the playing field.
The triple convergence is likely to cause some chaos and confusion. Friedman argues that the great
sorting out will recalibrate the ceilings, walls, and floors that define us. Some questions that arise
during the great sorting out are: what should be the relationship between companies and the
communities in which they operate?; how do we navigate our multiple identities as consumers,
employees, citizens, taxpayers, and shareholders?; who owns what, particularly in the case of
intellectual property?

In Part II, America and the Flat World, Friedman begins by claiming that free trade is still in the
United States best interest because as long as the global pie keeps growing--that is, as long as
more people demand these goods and services, more people will be needed to produce them.
Friedman points out that the Chinese and Indians are racing Americans to the top, not to the bottom.
This race will foster higher standards for everyone. Friedman shows how, as services and goods
become increasingly tradable, more jobs are likely to become outsourced, digitized, or automated. He
predicts that untouchable jobs in the new flat world will fall into three, broad categories: people who
are special or specialized (e.g. Madonna, Michael Jordan, or your brain surgeon); people who are
localized and anchored (e.g. waitresses, lawyers, plumbers, nurses, etc.); and the old middle jobs
(e.g. people in the middle class who are under pressure because their jobs are becoming tradable).
Friedman explores what he thinks the new middle-class jobs will be in the flat world, calling the people
who will occupy those jobs--which he divides into eight categories-- the new middlers.

The eight categories are: Great Collaborators and Orchestrators, The Great Synthesizers, The
Great Explainers, The Great Leveragers, The Great Adapters, The Green People, The Passionate
Personalizers, and The Great Localizers. Friedman outlines four skill sets and attitudes that
educators and employers point to as the right stuff to make it in the flat world. The first skill set
individuals must possess is the ability to learn how to learn. The second skill set is what Friedman
dubs CQ + PQ > IQ, or that curiosity and passion, combined, are more important than intelligence.
The third skill set/ attitude Friedman uncovers is Plays Well with Others. The final skill set Friedman
believes will be necessary in the flat world is The Right Brain Stuff. Friedman believes that the United
States is uniquely suited to enter the age of the flat world because it has a mix of institutions, laws,
and cultural norms that produce a level of trust, innovation, and collaboration that has enabled us to
constantly renew our economy and raise our standard of living. The problem, it seems, is that
Americans are not taking advantage of their nations potential.

Friedman unveils six dirty little secrets, which help explain why Americans are not taking advantage of
these resources and what will happen if they do not change course. The dirty little secrets are: The
Numbers Gap, The Education Gap at the Top, The Ambition Gap, The Education Gap at the
Bottom, The Funding Gap, The Infrastructure Gap. Next Friedman outlines the five action areas of
compassionate flatism, which is what he believes it means to be progressive in a flat world. The goal
of compassionate flatism is to reconfigure the old welfare state to give Americans the outlook,
education, skills, and safety nets they will need to compete against other individuals in the flat world.
The five action areas are: leadership, muscles, good fat, social activism, and parenting.

In Part III, Developing Countries and the Flat World, Friedman considers what policies developing
countries must carry out to thrive in the flattening world. These steps include: introspection,
commitment to more open and competitive markets, and the cultivation of infrastructure, education,
and governance, as well as the creation of business-friendly environments. Friedman then offers
Ireland as an example of a nation that went from the sick man of Europe to the rich man by
addressing these issues. Friedman believes that to truly understand a countrys economic
performance, one must also consider its culture. Friedman argues that open cultures, which are best
able to adopt global best practices and willing to change--versus closed cultures, which promote
tradition and national solidarity--have the best chance for success in the flat world. Finally, Friedman
observes that even when nations get it right--reform wholesale, reform retail, maintain good
governance, infrastructure, and education, as well as glocalize--some proceed in a sustained manner
while others do not. Friedman calls the missing element the intangible things. Friedman boils the
intangibles down to two basic elements: a willing society and leaders with vision. Friedman provides a
comparison between Mexico and China to show how Mexico failed and China succeeded.

In Part IV, Companies and the Flat World, Friedman imparts an observation he has made while
researching this book, which is that the companies that have managed to grow today are those that
are most prepared to change. Friedman shares seven rules he has learned from these companies.
Rule #1 is When the world goes flat --and you are feeling flattened-- reach for a shovel and dig inside
yourself. Dont try to build walls. Rule #2 is And the small shall act big... Rule #3 is And the big
shall act small... Rule #4 is The best companies are the best collaborators. Rule #5 is that In a flat
world, the best companies stay healthy by getting regular chest X-rays and then selling the results to
their clients. Rule #6 is that the best companies outsource to win, not to shrink. Rule #7 is that
Outsourcing isnt just for Benedict Arnolds. Its also for idealists.

In Part V, Geopolitics and the Flat World, Friedman explores some of the reasons why flattening could
go wrong. He sets out to answer the following questions: What are the biggest constituencies, forces,
or problems impeding this flattening process, and how might we collaborate better to overcome
them? The groups of people for whom the world might not flatten are comprised of those who are
too sick, too disempowered, and the too frustrated. Friedman notes that if the many people that
live in the unflat world enter the flat world (as they are beginning to do) there will be an
environmental crisis. He urges Americans to take seriously the damage they are wreaking on the
environment through their waste. He believes it is in the U.S.s best interest to collaborate with China
and India to reduce energy consumption. In becoming the Axis of Energy these nations could
effectively disempower the Axis of Evil.

Friedman also considers the surprising, important, and paradoxical effects flattening is having on
culture around the world. Initially, Friedman says, there was concern that globalization was really
Americanization in the form of American cultural imperialism. This is because American cultural
products (films, music, chain restaurants, etc.) were in the best position to take advantage of the
flattening of the world. However, Friedman believes that while the flat world platform has the potential
to homogenize cultures, it has a greater potential to foster diversity to a greater degree than has ever
happened before. The primary reason for Friedmans outlook is uploadings capacity to globalize the
local. That is, because anyone with access to a computer and the Internet can put content on the
Web, local culture can be spread globally. Friedman is aware that there are also negative aspects of
flattenings effects on culture. He notes that the potential is just as great for criminal groups to come
together in this smaller world as it is for progressive groups and mentions the pedophiles that paid
Justin Berry to perform sexual acts in from of a web-cam for several years. Friedman establishes The
Dell Theory of Conflict Prevention based on Dells Asian supply chain, arguing that nations deeply
invested in just-in-time global supply chains are much less likely to engage in war than they were
previously (old-time), because they will withstand significant financial losses. This is relevant to
Friedmans larger arguments about the flat world because Friedman contends that war substantially
slows (or stops) flattening. According to Friedmans theory, countries such as Japan, South Korea,
China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippians, Thailand, and Indonesia can work together and
resist war, despite political or cultural differences, because they are all economically invested in a
supply chain. Conversely, nations such as Iraq, Syria, south Lebanon, North Korea, Pakistan,
Afghanistan, and Iran are not part of any major global supply chains and, therefore, remain hot spots
because they will not suffer similar economic set backs due to war. Friedman notes that supply chains
are not always good. The technology that enables countries to become more competitive and
economically secure also enables terrorist organizations, such as al-Qaeda or suicide bombers in Iraq.
Friedman reminds the reader that Osama bin Laden did not use nuclear weapons on 9/11 because he
did not have the capability, not because he did not have the desire. Friedman argues that the best way
we can combat suicide supply chains is by limiting the supply of nuclear weapons.

Thomas L. Friedman
In Part VI, Conclusion: Imagination, Friedman emphasizes the competing forms of imagination at
work in the world today, which are seen in the differences of 11/9 (the day the Berlin Wall came down)
and 9/11. For Friedman, 11/9 represented a more open world. 9/11, conversely, demonstrated how
evil imaginations could close the world up. Friedman unfurls how the plans for 9/11, as elaborated in
the 9/11 Commission Report, were similar to many business ventures, with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
the eager engineer-entrepreneur and Osama bin Laden the wealthy venture capitalist. Friedman
argues that technology such as iris scans and x-ray machines will help thwart those who are trying to
destroy the flat world, but technology alone will not keep us safe. Additionally, we must affect the
imaginations of those who would use the tools of the flat world to terrorize others. Friedman closes
with an anecdote about dropping off his oldest daughter, Orly, at college in the fall of 2004. This was
one of the saddest days in Friedmans life, not only because his daughter was growing up, but because
he felt this world was so much more dangerous than the one she was born into.