I’ve just wrapped up reading the “World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Centry” by Thomas L. Friedman, and highly recommend it for anyone trying to navigate the very interesting, exciting, and startling 21st century world! It’s a must read, and was pleasantly surprised to find there is a great deal in there for those in the technology industry; I was expecting a pure political/globalization play but found there was quite a bit of substance on tech companies, players, and stories. The book is lengthy (496 pages), but consumable with stories and great factoids that make it a quick, interesting read.

Following on that was a serendipitous chance to hear Daniel Pink, of Free Agent Nation fame, chat about the substance of his new book “A Whole New Mind.” As I was listening to Pink’s presentation, which was both informative and entertaining, I noticed some overlapping themes from the two authors. No denying, it is a new world economy and the digital age has enabled globalization and a true globabl community. It’s a whole new ball game; we all need to embrace this change. It’s coming, there is no stopping it (whether to is purely ideological, not realistic)!

Any significant change emotes a variety of reactions… FUD will lose out to immense opportunity, eventually, if we can dig deep inside for growth and possibility.

They’re both great reads! The sooner you read them, the quicker you’ll have greater understanding of the dynamics of the 21st century and an increased chance of success. What’s interesting, I thought, was they both evaluate the landscape and point out the dynamics perfectly in sync, then they draw somewhat different conclusions. Closely related, but they definitely prescribe slightly different methods for success in the new world.