Flat Beats Spiky Any Day

Over 15 years ago, two authors began a discussion about the world being flat or spikey. Friedman's (2007) point was that the world was flat. Friedman cited globalization and suggested that it was opening the door for opportunity. Florida (2005) pointed out that the rich were getting richer and individuals flocking to large cities looking for opportunity suggested that there were location spikes or hubs drawing people. From the beginning, I have felt pulled to Friedman's position of the world being flat.

Hiring Trends?

Sometimes I feel myself playing along with social rules, which seem to hold me back. One example of this is hiring employees. Our organization started in Utah, and we have a good reputation and presence there. We had an office, and as we hired people, we pulled from the talent in the cities surrounding the office. After all, this is how businesses do it, right?

Yesterday I had a conversation with a client who told me they were hiring an employee in North Carolina. They have no office there, and there was no need to meet in person. This is not an uncommon conversation. Kolko et al. (2021) point out that this is not a new trend; in addition, it has not just been happening during the Pandemic but had started before COVID began in the United States. This is in direct conflict with one of the points made by Florida (2005) of how individuals are flocking to large, populated areas. This leads me to the next point of Globalization. 

Globalization

I was introduced to Friedman's (2007) The World is Flat, in a class I was taking in 2010. It helped me see there was a bigger world. Soon we started working with some local businesses that were using offshore talent, but I did not know how to access that talent myself. Over the following few years, tools like Fiver, UpWork, LinkedIn Jobs, and Indeed entered the market, and we could hire employees directly. In 2016, we hired our first full-time offshore employee, and then about a year ago, we added four more. Today, our development team is located across the Philippines. In addition, we are hiring salespeople located in different areas around the United States. As a result, I moved from Utah to Oregon because the people I manage are located worldwide!

Florida's (2005) most stimulating points for a spiky world are significant clustering in urban areas, some cities' economies are larger than those of other countries, and the rich are getting richer. If the world is getting flat, individuals need access to technology; therefore, they need to go to a place where technology is available. Internet in rural areas has been difficult to get until recently, so moving to a rural area and trying to keep a job that requires the use of the internet has not been a possibility (Fastco Works, 2020). However, those doors are starting to open, and people are making a move away from large urban areas (Kolko et al., 2021; Fastco Works, 2020).

Definition of Success

Kelly (2020) suggests that the rich are getting richer, and the Pandemic is helping them do that. Kelly points to people like Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, Warren Buffett, and others. Is this really how we are defining success? Does success mean you have to be one of the top 100 wealthiest people? This is just not anyone's reality (other than 100 people). Why do we have to define success as an individual by the cash in their bank account? In addition, 99% of all US businesses are small businesses (JPMorgan Chase & Company, nd). With 48% of the US workforce working for small companies, it seems odd to suggest that the world is spiky because of what 1% of organizations do (JPMorgan Chase & Company, nd).

Though there are signs that populations are beginning to spread out, I do not think this was what Friedman (2007) suggested. Instead, I believe Friedman was offering at least three things. First, individuals are much more likely to connect to anyone; second, organizations could tap into any labor market; third, technology gave businesses access to tools and information that only big firms could have previously. My experience and the experience of many others show the world is flat. We have access to people, technology, and the ability to succeed that we would not otherwise have access to if the world was spiky.

References

Fastco Works (2020, February 7). Life without reliable internet? Not anymore. How one company is changing the game for rural America. Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/90461312/life-without-reliable-internet-not-anymore-how-one-company-is-changing-the-game-for-rural-america

Florida, R. (2005). The world is spiky: Globalization has changed the economic playing field, but hasn't leveled it. The Atlantic Monthly, 296(3), 48-51.

Friedman, T. L. (2007). The world is flat: A brief history of the twenty-first century. Picador

JPMorgan Chase & Company. (nd). Small businesses are an anchor of the US economy. JPMorgan Chase & Company. https://www.jpmorganchase.com/institute/research/small-business/small-business-dashboard/economic-activity

Kelly, J. (2020, July 22). The rich are getting richer during the Pandemic. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2020/07/22/the-rich-are-getting-richer-during-the-pandemic/?sh=1db14da45c7e

Kolko, J., Badger, E., & Bui, Q. (2021, April 19). How the Pandemic did, and didn't, change where Americans move. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/04/19/upshot/how-the-pandemic-did-and-didnt-change-moves.html