Throughout the first part of the book
each of the ten flatteners as Freidman calls them, were actual events. They
took time to develop and happen. When he talks about triple convergence, it
seems like a lot of things happened in a short period of time. The first phase
of the triple convergence took place when all the ten flatteners started
working together and collaborating. An example of this was when Southwest
Airlines developed consumer friendly work flow software that allowed individual
customers to print off their own airline ticket at home, on their computer,
from their printer. There came from this first convergence a new platform by
which individuals and companies collaborated. Three things were needed to be
successful on this new platform. One had to have the infrastructure to connect
to the platform, second one needed education for innovation, working off and
tapping into the platform, and lastly, a governance to get the best out of the
platform while cushioning its worst side effects.
The business world took hold of the
new way of working. Businesses got their employees computers and connected them
to the internet but they didn’t see the benefits for a while. A new way of working
had to be developed. Businesses had to change from a top down, command and
control type model to a side to side model. This allowed for more collaboration
and communication. All of a sudden it wasn’t about reporting to your superior
it was about talking to someone in accounting to develop smoother way for
invoicing and billing.
In the Indiana vs. India story, it
was difficult for me to decide who was the exploiter and who was being exploited.
On one hand I don’t see a problem paying lowest price for the best product. On
the other hand, it’s ridiculous that the state of Indiana was employing workers
from India to upgrade Indiana’s unemployment department’s computer systems.
Seems to me like they could kill two birds with one stone by hiring unemployed
people to fix it, but that’s just me. I felt like the Indians got the short end
of the stick. They had the contract, they were doing the work, then big brother
comes in and shuts them down because they feel it unethical. It’s not India’s
fault. They came in with a bid that was $8,100,000 less than the next closest
bid. That’s not even close! I don’t blame the State of Indiana and I don’t
blame the Indians performing the job. The party at fault here is the government.
They as per the norm, can’t keep themselves out of other people’s business.
Intellectual property seems like a
slippery slope. At what point can you patent a person’s thoughts or ideas?
However, if someone takes the steps to create or invent something they should
have the protection necessary from thieves who clone and distribute your idea
or invention. If there were a way to do this, it would encourage others to
collaborate and continue to advance in all aspects of life, not just
technology.
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