The three-time Pulitzer Prize winner in his new book "Thank You For Being Late: An Optimist's Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations" builds a convincing case to make sense of why the world is the way it is today and which are the "biggest forces" driving it.
Published by Penguin, the 453-page book, which is a work of contemporary history, records the "tectonic movements" that are reshaping the world today and informs how to get the most out of them as well as "cushion their worst impacts."
He argues that to comprehend the twenty-first century, one needs to understand that the planet's three major forces - Moore's law (technology), the Market (globalization) and Mother Nature (climate change and biodiversity loss) - are accelerating simultaneously and together constitute the "age of accelerations".
"It's no surprise that so many people feel fearful or unmoored these days. 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.
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Friedman asserts that there is a "mismatch" between the change in the pace of change and our ability to develop the learning, training, management and social systems and social safety nets as well as government regulations that would enable the citizens to get the most out of these accelerations.
"This mismatch is at the center of much of the turmoil roiling politics and society in both developed and developing countries today. It now constitutes probably the most important government challenge across the globe," he affirms.
He describes this platform as "the supernova" for its extraordinary release of energy that is reshaping everything and is, in the words of Netscape's founder Marc Andreesen, "eating the world".
"There are vintage years in wine and vintage years in history, and 2007 was definitely one of the latter. Because not just the iPhone emerged in 2007 - a whole group of companies emerged in and around that year. Together these new companies and innovations have reshaped how people and machines communicate, create, collaborate and think," he writes.
"Anyone who falls back on tried-and-true formulae or dogmatism in a world changing this fast is asking for trouble. Indeed, as the world becomes more interdependent and complex, it becomes vital than ever to widen your aperture and to synthesise more perspectives," he notes.
Describing it as "one giant column" about the world today, 'Thank You For Being Late' is Friedman's most ambitious book and a field guide to the present and the future.
Steering clear of cynicism, Friedman cogently argues that one can overcome the multiple stresses of this age of accelerations, if they slow down and dare to be late and use the time to reimagine work, politics and community.
"Opting to pause and reflect, rather than panic or withdraw, is a necessity. It is not a luxury or a distraction - it is a way to increase the odds that you will better understand, and engage productively with, the world around you," he declares.
Written with his trademark vitality, wit and optimism, 'Thank You For Being Late' is a required reading for a generation that is "going to be asked to dance in a hurricane.