Help Wanted

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/18/opinion/sunday/friedman-help-wanted.html?_r=1&ref=thomaslfriedman

Friedman's main point in this article is that in the new globalized information climate, leaders cannot control the people under them because information is so readily available and able to be spread by anyone who wishes. People have more power, so leaders and managers have to work with the people under them in order for society to function smoothly. Companies, states, and individuals who are able to use the democratization of information to the best of their advantage with be the most powerful in the globalized world. He begins with a metaphor to compare fish in aquariums to countries. The point of his metaphor is that it is much easier to perform an action than to undo it, as shown in the major changes in the Middle East, where there is still uncertainty as to the future of the countries there. This metaphor interests the reader by explaining a difficult concept in simpler language. It supports Friedman's main idea because it shows that the democratization of information made every person in a country involved in changes in that country, so changes in every person would have to be reversed to undo a change. Friedman then progresses from the democratization of information to the democratization of expectations, "the expectation that all individuals should be able to participate in shaping their own career, citizenship and future, and not be constricted." This progression shows the movement of globalization to different ideas, and supports the part of Friedman's thesis that states that people are taking a more active role in the leadership of organizations that affect them. The negative example of Putin's power in Russia serves as a transition from the idea that people can create change with the democratization of information and expectations to how leaders should respond to regular people who begin to take an active role in larger organizations. This allows Friedman to move forward to the next part of his thesis: " ‘command and control’ — using carrots and sticks — to exert power over people is fast being replaced by ‘connect and collaborate’ — to generate power through people." Friedman puts this part of his thesis second because it states a major change in leadership that would be too radical to state upfront. However, the thesis where it is is effective because he leads up to it with an example that supports it, showing how it applies to the globalized world. Friedman's negative examples of Netflix and Coca Cola give a different type of evidence to support his argument, showing that his idea affects corporations as well as states. Friedman concludes by returning to the fish metaphor and the title, and including a call to action to leaders to adapt to the changes in the globalized world. Friedman believes that this change in leadership to work with people is important for maintaining order in our society, and his article shows his urgency in alerting people to the changes that globalization is continuously bringing to the world.