Musings on Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Friday, June 03, 2005A Race to the Top
Tom Friedman strikes again in his New York Times column today (registration required):
The dirty little secret is that India is taking work from Europe or America not simply because of low wages. It is also because Indians are ready to work harder and can do anything from answering your phone to designing your next airplane or car. They are not racing us to the bottom. They are racing us to the top...This is a bad time for France and friends to lose their appetite for hard work - just when India, China and Poland are rediscovering theirs.
Young, poor countries seek opportunities for gain. Old, rich countries tend to try to reduce the risk of losing what they already have. The latter strategy will only succeed for a while.
Why is it, then, that my Democratic Party and its counterparts in rich countries seem to have lost the advantage in a world where progressive values, universal education, tolerance, and an open society are keys to participating in the huge opportunity that the emergence of India, China and Poland (and many others) represents?
I understand the source of the inertia that fear of loss can engender. I'm nearly 45 years old, and I've embarked on the uncertainties of yet another start-up. Some days, it's almost terrifying. Nevertheless, it's also exhilarating to have another opportunity to engage in transformative learning - painful, but exhilarating. I'd like to say I learn because I've attained some kind of enlightenment. The truth is, this aging dog simply must learn new tricks. My kids have grown accustomed to eating every day, and I don't have a job for life with six weeks of vacation every year to fall back on. That is, I'm like most everybody else. I want to learn how to learn better and more profitably, and I want my kids to have the opportunity to achieve success, as they define it, in their lifetimes. I think a key for me and my children is to learn how to compete and collaborate in the face of unprecedented economic opportunity and challenge. Building walls of sand against the sea change doesn't seem to be a promising approach.
Related: The Global Challenge (and Opportunity)
