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This article is part review and part thought-provoker in relation to education and Friedman's Flat world. The article primarily reviews the flattening forces, in very little detail, but throws a twist in at the end as it talks specifically about the education system. It is suggested that classrooms become "flat" as well so that everyone is given the same chance to be involved.

This is a great article that relates to Miguel in Gratton's book. Miguel and his colleagues from around the globe are intuitive about the world around them and want to save it! This article is saying that Generation Y want to save the world. They are the most educated generation, understand that global warming is real, and also want to learn and make a difference in the world.

The starting premise about Columbus in The World Is Flat bothered me a lot. There were many people who knew the world was round before him. Greek philosophers such as Pythagoras, Eratosthenes and Aristotle calculated and reasoned that the world was not flat - either round or at least a dome. Also, to anyone looking for a ship, the top of a mast appears first over a horizon, like something coming over a hill. It would make sense for people to assume that the world was round. In terms of who 'proved' the earth was round and that you could go all the way around and get back to the same point, Magellan's crew was the first to circumnavigate the globe in 1522, definitively 'proving' what many already believed. I've seen repeatedly that Columbus' actual argument was that the world was smaller than people thought, so he thought he could find a sea route from Europe across the Pacific to India. Instead, he ran into what later became the Americas. Hopefully, Friedman will address these issues and will see his viewpoint changed by his experiences in parallel with the Columbus story.

The growth of hyperspecialization and new markets such as TopCoder, through which individuals can 'sell' their specialized talents, allow individuals to compete in an increasing "flat" world. Outsourcing if often thought of only in terms of wealthy developed world companies seeking cheaper labour from developing countries, however this article highlights that some outsourcing is done to increase the quality of work, not simply to decrease cost. In an increasing connected world, individuals can 'outsource' the parts of their job that they do not excel in, to other individuals who are specialized in it.

Convergence 1 - (pg 204 of 3.0 edition, Friedman) "The convergence of the ten flatteners had created a whole new platform. It is a global, Web-enabled platform for multiple forms of collaboration. This platform enables individuals, groups, companies and universities anywhere in the world to collaborate - for the purposes of innovation, production, education, research, entertainment, and, alas, war-making - like no creative platform ever before" This website provides free online courses in a variety of topics. It collaborates with Universities, Libraries Museums, and Professional Associations across the world to provide these resources. It is really free learning, the only fee is if you want a Certification of Participation at the end. Otherwise it is a really great online set up for learning, that goes week by week (much like our D2L, or eConestoga) with activities, readings, articles, discussion boards, videos etc.

Convergence 1 - (pg 204 of 3.0 edition, Friedman) "The convergence of the ten flatteners had created a whole new platform. It is a global, Web-enabled platform for multiple forms of collaboration. This platform enables individuals, groups, companies and universities anywhere in the world to collaborate - for the purposes of innovation, production, education, research, entertainment, and, alas, war-making - like no creative platform ever before" This website offers courses from "top universities and organizations worldwide". It allows students to listen to lectures, take quizzes, submit assignments and receive peer feedback. These can be taken from anywhere in the world and are taken at your own pace in a blended learning environment.

Richard Paul's article is about the increasing need, in this intertwined, globalized world for us to foster critical thinking in our children. As we have already learned from both 'The World is Flat' and 'The Shift', in this flattened world, simply obtaining basic skills or knowing the answers to certain questions will not be enough. Paul argues that our current K-12 school system is not breeding creative students, and is not giving students a chance in the ever-changing work landscape. He maintains that in order to keep up with globalization, we need to be fostering in our children the ability to problem solve creatively, to anticipate patterns and meanings, to think abstractly, to ask 'why', and to be able to communicate, collaborate, and negotiate with others.

This article by Charles Fishman echoes more of what Friedman calls 'Multiple Identity Disorder' in a flattening world. We as individuals are trying to sort out "the tensions among our identities as consumers, employees, citizens, taxpayers, and shareholders." This article pulls the covers off of Wal-Mart, revealing some of the business partnerships they have had with companies like Vlasic, Lovable, Levi Strauss, and MasterLock- and how those companies have lost huge profits, and in the case of Vlasic, gone bankrupt because of their partnership with Wal-Mart. But, says Fishman, for suppliers, "the only thing worse than doing business with Wal-Mart may be not doing business with Wal-Mart". In a flattened world where one company has so much power, suppliers have few options if they want to stay afloat. Wal-Mart is taking its business to foreign companies at an accelerated rate. And as consumers with lower incomes due to the off-shoring of jobs, we also feel that we have little choice: we have to buy the cheapest brand. Seems that the Flattened world has also flattened individual choice.

I was inspired by Megan Rowe's post to look up information about transistors. Gratton posit that computing power will continue to increase as it ha now, but I had heard that we were reaching a limitation with transistors, so I looked up more information about this possibility. The exponential increase in computing power has already begun to slow down. Link to annotated version: https://diigo.com/03w8c7

This site supports Friedman's three convergences of horizontalization, using new technologies with new ways of doing business, and the world now having access to plug-in and play. The article talks about outsourcing many services (especially within manufacturing) all over the world. In 2012, China was the 18th fastest growing economy in the world, with a real GDP growth rate (constant prices, national currency) of 7.8 percent. Although the figure is its slowest growth since 1999, it is also representative of a maturing economy as it gradually transition from a developing to developed nation.

In Chapter 8 of Economics for Everyone, Jim Stanford brings up on multiple occasions the need for labour extraction, and the use of the carrot and stick (reward and punishment) model in all businesses. As soon as I was reading this it made me think of a book I read last year by Alfie Kohn on Punishment and Reward. Kohn believes that punishments are just as bad as rewards, and that using either reduces happiness, and productivity. The first section of the book focuses on the research showing that the use of both punishments and rewards is detrimental to people's ability to do good work. In the second section he looks specifically at punishments and rewards in 3 places, the workplace, the school, and the home. In the third section he suggests new methods of motivation for all three places. When I origionally read this I was focused on his his ideas about school, however he his theories are equally important to the world of work!

This article describes ways in which small independent artisans can fight back against the competition of large megacompanies. Although in Chapter 9 Stanford mentions that independent businesses are negligible in the large scheme of things, I think it is interesting to look at competition from this point of view. Also, upon reading this article, I think that these kinds of more personal purchasing interactions may become more popular in the coming world as Etsy is another online marketplace, similar to ones mentioned by Gratton in The Shift.

Join a global learning community to create, connect, and collaborate with students around the globe. Skillshare offers online classes to fit your schedule with bite-sized lessons from industry leaders that will help you turn ideas into action. Lynda Gratton mentions in "The Shift" that in the future we will have to differentiate ourselves from the crowd by creating a body of knowledge and skills to achieve mastery, as well as connecting with others around the world.

This journal article refutes Friedman's view by looking at how globalization creates a more uneven world and capitalism tends to develop unevenly geographically. It is an interesting refute to Friedman's perspective.

This article is interesting because we are used to major companies outsourcing their positions across the world, but here a service paid for by Canadian taxes is being outsourced elsewhere, taking jobs away from Canadian taxpayers. This introduces an interesting ethical issue, as many believe it is wrong for a company paid for exclusively by Calgarians is outsourcing jobs to other areas of the world.

Times have immeasurably changed since the '50s and '60s, but is it for better or for worse? One of the major reasons for all the change in the world is the advances in technology. It is actually quite amazing how far technology has come since 1950, with technology nowadays we have the world at our fingertips. This opinion letter talks about how technology has changed the workplace, the way we learn and our lives in general. Have we become too dependent on technology?

In "The Virgin Guadalupe" of The World is Flat 3.0, Freidman talks about how in Ireland public college education is basically free. This allows them to develop a more educated workforce which has been beneficial for them economically. This article from Oct 2014 explains how Germany has moved in the same direction.

EconomicDevelopment.Org is a hub of economic development news and resources from around the world. As a community of experts, professionals and members of the public, they seek to engage in conversation about issues and ideas surrounding economic development and its impact on people and places around the globe. They have a page specifically for the 'workforce' and trends and issues happening in the world of work. This initiative grew out of a longstanding commitment by Millier Dickinson Blais, a Canadian economic development consulting firm, to contribute to the growth of the economic development profession and generate discussion around issues and developments in the industry. The most comprehensive economic development site *Beyond the flow of news, with information and links to relevant resources *Bringing together leading contributors to share insightful and thought-provoking content *Facilitating exchange and interactions within a community of industry peers

This article works as one of the best examples to understand the new trends, the global chaining which has extensively been elaborated by Friendman in his book The World is Flat. When the Starbucks face a cost problem in its operational system, the company applied certain improvement steps and made drastic changes: a plan for organization, simplifying the complex, "one world, one logistics system," and earning the company's confidence.