The World is Flat & Summer Session I

After 24 days of clouds, rain, fog, and humidity, the sun is finally out.  It is about time.  I just wrapped up Summer Session 1 at Suffolk University where I teach Virtual Human Resources.  We teach it in a classroom but that is a different post altogether.  This year, instead of a final exam, they wrote a final paper...on Thomas Friedman's book The World is Flat.

The insights that many of them conveyed in their papers were excellent and I was most pleased with how they compared what went on their lives and how it has impacted them personally and how it continues to impact the Human Resources profession.

Think about it, in the same classroom, there are people who have never worked professionally without the internet while another group, like me, remembers sending that first email and thinking..."this is great...I won't have to Fax anymore".  The technology convergence that has happened over the past ten years has been nothing less than amazing.  It thrills me to see HR professionals thinking globally and acting locally. 

One interesting tid-bid...within my class I had two student's that are from India and neither of them talked about personal experience or how India has transformed in the Flat World.  They took the book and really came at it from an American perspective.  Not good or bad but interesting nonetheless.

I realize it has been a while since I've posted.  Gray skies, blah economy, etc, etc, etc.  However, the sun is out.  Things seem to be picking up.  Let's get back at this.

Comments

[John "Urbie" Kafalas]

What did your Indian students think of Friedman's book overall? Do they agree with his thesis -- that Americans should stop whining and learn to live the flat world?

Urb

[Jay Hargis: HRCleanUp]

Hi Urbie...actually, they were pretty low key about it. In fact, I think that they kept their opinions to themselves. I would have loved to have learned more about their experiences and opinions. But I agree with you--stop whining and get busy so you can be competitive.

[John "Urbie" Kafalas]

Heh... well, speaking as someone who used to get $25/hour to answer e-mail (as I think I told you guys at the meetup), I'd have been happier if those jobs hadn't gone to Bangalore. But all's I'm sayin' is that's what Friedman describes in his book, and that we need to find jobs that can't be outsourced, if we want steady work!

Urb