Wednesday, 5 September 2018

Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist's Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations by Thomas L Friedman





We are living through one of the greatest inflection points in history…. The three largest forces on the planet -- technology, globalization, and climate change -- are all accelerating at once.  As a result, so many aspects of our societies, work places, and geopolitics are being reshaped and need to be reimagined. 



I needed permission to be alone with my thoughts -- without having to tweet about them, take a picture of them, or share them with anyone.



When you are a reporter, your focus is on digging up facts to explain the visible and the complex and to unearth and expose the impenetrable and the hidden -- wherever that takes you.  You are there to inform, without fear or favor.



It takes caring to ignite caring; it takes empathy to ignite empathy.



When the rate of change eventually exceeds the ability to adapt you get 'dislocation'.  'Disruption' is what happens when someone does something clever that makes you or your company look obsolete.  'Dislocation' is when the whole environment is being altered so quickly that everyone starts to feel they can't keep up.



If you lived in the twelfth century, your basic life was not all that different than if you lived in the eleventh century.



This is a real problem.  When fast gets really fast, being slower to adapt makes you really slow -- and disoriented. 



Traditional climate patterns that Greenland elders have known their whole lives have changed so quickly in some places that the accumulated wisdom and intuitions of older people are not as valuable as they once were.



Today, roughly 86 percent of Americans have air-conditioning in their homes and apartments.  Only 7 percent do in Brazil and less than that in India.



You can't just show up. You need a plan to succeed.



The global cost of diabetes is now $825 billion per year.



In a healthy community people are not only looking out for each other, they are getting out of Facebook and into each other's faces.  Healthy communities shame and mobilize against destructive and abusive behaviors.