Among readers of serious nonfiction, Thomas Friedman enjoys instant brand recognition, which is as important in selling books as cartoon characters are in selling cereal. The three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the New York Times has a reputation for energetic reporting and ambitious synthesis, both of which are evident in Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $28).
The book begins with an introduction on the wisdom of pausing. That’s what the title alludes to: Friedman feels gratitude when an ambassador or chief executive officer arrives late for an interview, because the delay provides time “to just sit and think”—something he urges readers to do. Not a terribly profound insight, but a good reminder for the overcommitted.
Stepping off his own merry-go-round of columns and speaking gigs gives Friedman the mental space to construct what he calls his “core argument,” which is really more a description of our disruptive times. By “accelerations,” he means the increases in computing power, which are enabling breakthroughs from 3D printing to self-driving cars. Meanwhile, globalization is creating vast wealth for those who capitalize on innovation and impoverishment for populations who don’t. All of this sped-up economic activity contributes to rising carbon levels, feeding the climate change that threatens civilization.
Optimism in the face of disorienting transformation
As his subtitle indicates, Friedman remains optimistic in the face of a disorienting transformation. Islamic State used Twitter aggressively, but Friedman shows the blessings of technological advancement by taking the reader on a whirlwind tour of corporations and organizations responsible for positive digital change. These include the well-known (Apple, Google, Facebook, and, yes, Twitter) and the less famous (Hadoop, a computer-linking platform that allows for better data management; GitHub, a code-sharing and publishing service; and Palantir Technologies, a controversial data analysis company).
Friedman relishes catchphrases like “the Big Shift,” borrowed in this case from the Harvard Business Review. He deploys B-school jargon to explain it, but the definition boils down to companies making the move from relying exclusively on in-house brainpower, patents, and data to exploiting “flows” of knowledge from anywhere in the world. When General Electric needs a new industrial part, it no longer looks only to its own engineers in the U.S., India, or China; it runs worldwide “contests” to stimulate creativity. Friedman recounts one example in which a bracket used to brace aircraft engines was designed by a 21-year-old engineer in Central Java, Indonesia, who had access to a 3D printer.
At various points, Friedman makes the case for changed policies to respond to the accelerations he chronicles. For the U.S., he prescribes liberal immigration policies to attract technologists from abroad; increased government investment in infrastructure, including repairing bridges and expanding bandwidth; and additional public support for scientific research. It’s difficult to contest this sensible, center-left agenda, but at the same time, Friedman doesn’t offer much practical advice on how to achieve it.
Thank You has other flaws. Friedman doesn’t always arrange his findings in an easy-to-follow manner. Topics appear, disappear, and return. He also has a weakness for quoting long, dull passages from blogs, conference speeches, and academic journals, almost all of which should have been abbreviated.
The book’s final section describes Friedman’s hometown, St. Louis Park, Minn. The 100-page meditation on what made the Minneapolis suburb a great place to grow up helps explain Friedman’s unrelentingly upbeat attitude. He argues that if we are to cope with 21st century life, we’ll have to rediscover the communal spirit, enthusiasm for public education, and political commitment he recalls fondly from his 1960s boyhood. One worries, though, that contrary to Friedman’s hopefulness, the social fragmentation that’s accompanied our sped-up, globalized world has directly undermined the values of his youth.
To contact the author of this story: Paul Barrett in New York at pbarrett17@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Bret Begun at bbegun@bloomberg.net.
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