Last Blog as a Billy Goate

Wow, time flew by this semester. For my last blog post I just want to take some time to reminisce you might say. When I started this class I was shocked by the first announcement being that it was an honors course which I previously had no idea of. Then the second bombshell hit, no exams. A joy for sure but definitely left some worries of what would replace it. Luckily, the class was actually one of the best classes I have had and I am glad it all worked out how it did. This blogging was at times very interesting and also on the other hand very time consuming as well. The readings uhhh wow were some of them long and I would read them in the morning and by the time class started I would forget what was in them. The book report was probably the most interesting outside of class thing because it forced me to read and the book was actually one of the most intriguing books I have read. With the activities I learned a lot of lessons, some the easy way and some the hard way. Every single person is different and that's what makes this class so interesting because the theories and reactions to those theories when applied vary from person to person. So, to close out this class, Dr. Goates, it was a pleasure and keep doing what you are doing.

Stay Classy,
Kyle

About the Presentations

All of the presentations went fairly well and I must say that 20 minutes goes a lot faster than what you would think and especially being the last person to talk has its disadvantages. I was standing up there and right as I began to talk the 1 minute sign came up and I was like oh shit time to throw the notecards away. But i'm still pleased with my own group's presentation and I thought everyone did a great job on it too. It was definitely a time consuming project but beats a final any day.

Power Differential

I thought it was very interesting how power is held within the separate groups of society. You think that with the few numbers that the upper groups have the lower groups could easily overtake them and reign free. I mean we pretty much did the same thing against England to gain our independence. The question is why and I think (strictly opinional) that they middle class is really the deciding piece to this. The lower group by far has the numbers and motive to overtake and claim what they want from the top group given they act as a collective whole. But without the helpful hand from the middle group they can't take that step. And I look at it as the middle group yes wants more power but not at the expense of the lower group coming to the same level or rising above them. So instead the middle mediates and does all it can to keep the lower group either low enough that they can't rise or content enough with where they are. The Union is just a way of satisfaction but they don't realize they are also being controlled by the union. Unions unite and also de-unite at the same time. It allows lower class peoples to feel connected but at the same time they are being taken further away from the other unions which contain the rest of their numbers and power.

I just kind of rambled there and i'm not sure if I even said anything worth it but its what was at the surface so i went with it.

A Revisit

After the discussion in class about the exercise we did i was still really confused for some reason. I don't know maybe i'm just use to things that are done like this activity to have an answer like of how it was supposed to go or not go. But Goates made it seem like it could have gone a numerous number of ways and that it was more for his pleasure. It was an experience for sure but I don't think that we (top group) could have changed the outcome unless we turned to a communist style of leadership. I have a feeling that age and experience is going to be the biggest thing to combat in the workplace because most people under you will be with the company longer and probably much older than the new kid fresh out of college. I guess you just gotta stand your ground early prove your power which is primarily what this class as a whole aims to instill within us. The power to lead.

Book Report Segment #5 - The World is Flat??

In the last report for this book (finally 630 pages is a lot), Friedman starts off with a section about the effect of a flat world on culture. The commonly believed effect is that globalization will cause Americanization where everyone speaks English and adapts to American culture but Friedman points out that this is likely not to be the case. I agree and understand what he is saying. He is saying that as countries enter the flat world and begin to “play” that there will be less pressure or need for people to leave their home countries in order to get proper schooling or opportunities so that culture of those people has a better probability of being retained. In the past it was only America dealing globally so their culture was being injected into other countries but now with more players in the game more countries can inject bits of their culture while protecting it by not being pushed to leave for the benefits of education and opportunity. Not only is culture being equalized and diversified but so the flow of investment. Gone are the times where it was only America and Europe investing their capital globally but other countries like India and China are now doing that as well. The next section is titled, if it’s not happening it’s because you’re not doing it. This was kind of complicated but I think it just means that in order for something to happen you have to get the initiative to do something. They talked about Wal-Mart and McDonalds and how with their respective reputations they have the ability to help the world by instilling standards that provide the best quality and safeness for the environment. Friedman also mentioned how social entrepreneurs could now with the flat world easily access the global collective that they need to get their message out there and accepted by that collective. Once the belief gets accepted by enough then it almost forces the company to make the change requested in order to stay afloat. Continuous improvement within collaborations will help to improve quality standards as well as efficiency within the companies supply chain. The next section brings up how that with so many uses of technology that we may be far away when we are very close. For example say you’re sitting right next to someone but you’re both on your phones, doing separate things when you’re really close together. It’s interesting because this can already be seen and it raises another issue, law. As the ease of access to the world increases and the ability to post your thoughts and anything to the internet, the current legal system that we have isn’t built to handle the technological copyright and infringement occurrences that are so readily seen today. Friedman stresses that as the internet and global technology continues to increase in its importance and availability the legal system will have to make the necessary changes in order to be sustainable. Friedman next talks about some of the things that are keeping the world from becoming completely flat. He labels them the too sick, too disempowered, too frustrated, and too many Toyotas. The too sick are those who can’t access the flat world because they are too sick to do so. The too disempowered are those who live within a flat world but don’t have access to the tools, skills, or infrastructure to make in impact. The too frustrated are those who feel threatened by the flat world and therefore act out, like suicide bombers for example. The too many Toyotas group is a tad different, Friedman describes this as the most crucial downside to the flattening of the world, and that is the waste. With everyone coming up to the same level then per capita consumption and waste will be at an all time high which will threaten our natural resources and environment. Friedman then turns to a theory he has developed called the Dell Theory of Conflict Prevention. He states with this that if two countries are intertwined by a supply chain and that both countries rely on each other that they will never come to war against each other because of the risk of damage to their resources. I found this interesting but yet as far as never happening is hard to believe. I’m sure that under a certain set of circumstances something could cause a war between two intertwined countries. The biggest test of this theory is currently Taiwan versus China and how their economic relationship is preventing war currently.  With the book now over I just want to take a little time to discuss how I felt about the book. I thought it was highly theoretical, inspiring, and brutally honest. I believe in the content of the book and Friedman did a great job proving his points. The world is changing and America needs to be ready. We can’t let 9/11 close our doors and cause us to fight the flat world; we will be left behind. There are good and bad things that come along with the flattening of the world and while we need to embrace the good we also need to protect against the bad which I feel like as a country we can do. We just need to get our infrastructure under us to support the things that we need it to.

All About the Benjamins, I mean Goate Bucks

Well of course a simple class exercise is Goates class was more than it seemed. I was in the top group and thought that we were all together as part of an organization but obviously I was mistaken. Everything was running smoothly aside from the time constraint but when it came down to getting the order placed. We, the top group, were stabbed in the back by those below us. Although I still made some money out of the deal, I was disheartened at the lack of organizational commitment. To do this to a real employer would leave you out on the street for sure and i'm not sure of the rational behind the actions but who knows what was on their papers. Eager to see how Goates expands on the exercise cause I'm speechless to what went down.

Book Report Segment #4 - The World Is Flat?

This next section looks at how America isn’t in place to make all the advancements that it needs to so sustain its place in the world for the years to come. He refers to a scientist, Dr. Shirley Jackson, whom discusses how without the proper education systems to promote innovation and scientific advancement like we had while Kennedy was in office, we may not be able to live up to our innovative standard that we have seen in the past 50 years. The flattening of the world along with the triple convergence has allowed everyone to access information and become relevant. Gaining a sustainable edge can only be acquired by the talent which is within the company. Right now, America doesn’t have the right base tools to make outstanding wealth in this flat world. Friedman points to three things which will allow success in the flat world. They are the proper infrastructure to get information out and in quickly and as efficient as possible, proper education programs to empower innovation within our own people, and the right governance to enhance and manage the flow with the flattened world. He explains six dirty little secrets that America has which will keep us from being the head power in the flat world. The first is that all of the scientists that were inspired by Kennedy and the space race are reaching their retirement and there haven’t been enough interested people to fill their places. So, in the years to come we will see a shortage in scientists which will definitely slow down our innovative engine. The second is our lack of education. Our country doesn’t recruit enough kids into the more advanced math, science, and engineering fields to keep pace with the other countries. Friedman talked about China and how they have a fair to lead into the global international science fair. China gets around 6 million applicants just to that while we only sent 65 thousand to the international fair. Bottom line is that if we can’t change our education system and get young minds interested in changing the world scientifically, we won’t be able to rely on our own innovation. We will have to play catch up to the new powers entering the flat world; China and India. The third secret is the ambition gap. It has been proven that when companies outsource they save money and increase efficiency, but they also see an increase in the quality and productivity of the workers. The point here is that when a country is lacking in natural resources they look within themselves to make a difference by tapping into the energy, creativity, and intelligence of their own people. This means that they, in turn, work harder and use their leisure time more wisely. Instead of playing video games and falling into pop culture, the people of China and India are reading and doing more productive things so that they can better themselves and their country as a whole as well. The next secret is the discrepancy between the top and bottom of our education system. We need to find a way to better educate all of our young people regardless of wealth or demographics. The fifth secret Friedman describes is the funding gap. The main idea is that we cannot expect to compete with China and India for jobs without a well rounded and educated workforce, something we are clearly lacking in as seen in the previous four dirty little secrets. The last secret is our insufficient web infrastructure. We don’t have people connected to the web as we should and therefore we aren’t getting our educated people connected to each other. The better connected we get, the more automated innovation can become because people have more time and energy to innovate. A quote in the book from Craig Mundie of Microsoft sums this up. “If the flat-world platform makes innovation and production so much more efficient, but your people can’t take advantage of it, because they don’t have the infrastructure or the education to do so, then sooner or later you are going to get hosed.” Think about that. Moving on, Friedman lists five crucial areas to which the American government can instill in us as its people to succeed in the flat world. These areas are leadership, muscle building, cushioning, social activism, and parenting. Leadership, social activism, and parenting are self explanatory but the other two are not. Muscle building refers to building the “muscle”, or the tools within a job that allow one to retain that job. Cutting the “fat”, or the things that induce slacking off, are what we need to eliminate in order to be a power in the flat world. Cushioning means to set yourself up so that if you lose a job somewhere you have the tools instilled within you to retain a job elsewhere. Basically, Friedman is stating that the days of people working one place for a lifetime is over. The next section goes into how developing countries fit into this flat world. For developing countries it is all about knowing where you are in the world and being willing to develop in the way to success. It all goes back to the four basic things Friedman has professed throughout this whole book; infrastructure, education, governance, and environment. After those things it then is about having the right economic policies that can open your countries doors to easy import/export trade. Learn from the policies of other successful nations in the flat world and adopt what they have done. Striving to put your country alongside the world’s top flat-world countries will aid in successful development. Get your stuff straight the first time so the transition is clean and efficient. Instill within your country the correct culture and mind sight to put yourselves at the top of the chain. Your culture must be open and willing to change and mold itself into the flat world. If self interests must be put aside so that the economy and country as a whole can prosper, then so be it. Friedman sees globalization as having the potential to lift many people out of poverty if done right and this has been seen in China and India. The key is to instill within the country virtually everything discussed in this book and always be adaptable to change. The last section that I read for this part of the report is on companies and the flat world. He provides nine rules that companies will need to look to and abide by in order to stay afloat within the flat world. As I read through the section and the rules they all dealt with virtually the same common theme. Basically to sum up the section Friedman is saying that a company must be open to change, willing to change, strive to stay ahead of the curve, do whatever it must, compete with itself as well as with others, and have a sense that you are never at the full capacity of your imagination and can always, continuously improve. This section really resonated with our in class discussions lately because it all ties to proper leadership and culture. Determining which leadership roles and societal culture to run with in order to make your country/company the best it can be to flow with the flat world. The organizational behaviors of the people within the organization or country are the key pieces of the puzzle. Have the right pieces in the right place and you will succeed.