This book summary and review of Hot, Flat, and Crowded was prepared by Jonathan Gilleland while a management student in the College of Business at Southeastern Louisiana University.
Executive Summary
“Hot, Flat, and Crowded” by Thomas L. Friedman is an amazing book which spares no details as it dives into the pressing issues that threaten our future as the human race. In this book, Friedman explores such problems facing us and future generations as: global climate change, the globalization of developed nations into a world economy, and skyrocketing human populations in denser areas. The real problem, however, is that this condition of our planet becoming increasingly “hot, flat, and crowded” only stands to make it more difficult to turn around key problems in our world such as fierce competition for scarce resources, the balance of wealth being tipped in favor of the oil producing nations, climate change, the uneven distribution of energy, and increased plant and animal extinction rates.
Much of this book is devoted to educating readers about the realities of the problems faced. This is done by informing readers about the way a lot of the things we are currently doing wrong are done, and historically how we got to where we are now. It makes sense to clarify how dire our need for change on a global level really is. It is important that the United States of America grasps the opportunity to lead the rest of the world in creating and abiding by new cleaner, greener standards to better sustain not only humans—but all life on Earth far into the future.
As the book develops, Friedman shifts his focus from “where we are” to “where we are going,” as he lays out his experiences from all over the world and suggests possible paths to follow to jump start a new world wide “green movement.” The common theme becomes more and more clear that the time for change is now, and the time for living in the now and turning the blind eye to disturbing facts and trends needs to be over.
The overall tone of this guide to change is positive; and even though the road to change will not be an easy one—or one for that matter that only a few individual changes can achieve—yet it is imperative that we get the ball rolling and get the entire world to “buy in to what we as the United States need to be selling.” It is clear upon completion of this novel that Friedman is truly optimistic about the future, and his belief that a new generation can grab the bull by the horns and ensure the sustainability of our world market, as well as the planet Earth.
The Ten Things Managers Need to Know from Hot, Flat, and Crowded
1. Managers need to realize that decisions made today impact our tomorrow. This is evident through the fact the decisions of corporations in the past leave us questioning how to change their model going forward.
2. Managers need to realize that all of the resources that are converted into products, or are used to convert inputs into outputs, come at a cost. Unfortunately for managers living in the present, some of those costs may not be evident until some years into the future.
3. Managers should demand higher standards of themselves, their subordinates, as well as from the companies they represent. Sometimes, the only way to spark changes is to demand that different measures or outcomes are met.
4. Managers need to realize that collaboration with outside companies, even those who are direct competitors, should not be avoided. It should be embraced when a core change is needed in a given industry.
5. Managers need to understand that the current business environment calls for innovation—not repackaging the same old wheel.
6. Managers need to realize that collaboration between different departments of a given company is crucial to ensuring efficiency, and cutting out excess waste.
7. Managers need to realize that soon enough there will be political and legal changes that will shock the foundations of how certain industries operate. It is the companies who have the foresight to embrace where the world is heading who will have the advantage—not those who over invest in the present only to react later.
8. Managers need to realize that companies who are vested in the global economy have important leverage in how new innovations, as well as legal standards which affect innovation, are perceived and acted upon by those in office.
9. Managers need to understand that it makes sense to pay a higher fixed cost now when making energy-related infrastructural changes in order to take advantage of lower variable energy costs into the future. A current example would be switching to solar power.
10. Managers need to realize that there is a growing positive image for those companies who opt to make green changes. Failure to adapt could ensure the survival of a rival and could mark a death sentence for the company that was reluctant to change when they had the chance to be a leader.
Full Summary of Hot, Flat, and Crowded
Why Citibank, Iceland’s Banks, and the Ice Banks of Antarctica All Melted Down at the Same Time. Hot, Flat, and Crowded takes place on several continents. The first chapter begins with the description of a scene in Fenghua, China. A worker at a Chinese factory is amazed at the amount of worthless consumer products that are manufactured there. The destination of these products is the United States. The idea behind this is to show that people in other countries only care about possessing the bare essentials which are useful to core life activities—such as having a pot to cook food, whereas in America, people have become accustomed to an endless array of consumer products which are designed to meet broadening needs which are really better classified as wants. Most of these products don’t stand the test of their useful lives and are made of plastics and other materials which are detrimental to our planet. Yet consumers of these products simply throw them away without a second thought of where these items end up after they vanish from within their trash cans.
This type of modern ideology among developed nations where people just consume more and more has actually fueled complex trade relationships between developed and developing nations. Nations such as China which have a lot of labor capital and low costs of labor have found their niche as producers of the goods that nations like the United States of America have an all-time-high demand for. This demand for their products has lead other nations to become more vested in our economy by buying United States Treasury Bills and so forth. This influx allows our Federal Reserve to justify extending more and more cheap credit to consumers who in turn consume more and more. The more that Americans consume, the higher the demand for cheap foreign goods, and therefore the cycle continues exponentially. This basic concept has lead to the interdependence and influence of different nations’ economies.
Dumb as We Wanna Be. In this case “we” definitely refers to American citizens. Ever since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the world has become a lot flatter. This basically refers to the growing freedom and ease of world trade due to less trade restrictions, new innovations, and even the mindset of people across the world who had less to fear, which comprises globalization. The United States has pretty much been a pioneer in globalization by historically actively seeking out less trade restrictions and better relationships with other nations. This trend changed, however, when the United States experienced the ill effects of 9/11. The United states became more secluded in their policies and actions. Our presence in Iraq has been the American influence that much of the world has felt or heard about in recent years—because we sure aren’t known for our innovations these days. As a whole, much of our country has been blind to the rest of the world as well as to their perceptions of us. Perhaps ignorance really is not bliss.
The Re-Generation. This chapter conveys hope for the future. Hopefully our generation and our children’s’ generation can become the “Re-Generation.” The hope is that we can take steps now and consistent steps moving forward to fundamentally repair and maintain the world economic situation, as well as mother earth. Friedman claims that “sustainability is today’s freedom crusade, because the next generation will not live free” if we do not fundamentally change the market system for the better and ensure our planet can sustain us in the future (Friedman, 50).
Today’s Weather: Hot, Flat, and Crowded. The time is opportune for America to take the leadership role in a global effort to sustain the world into the future. The world is pretty highly globalized in the year 2010. World communications are the platform to address our dire problems and global inequities moving forward if used for good. We are currently experiencing growing populations that we cannot sustain in the future if things worsen rather than improve. We are also currently experiencing global warming, which if not reversed, will also impede our goal of sustainability of human life. These conditions coupled give the book the title “Hot, Flat, and Crowded.” When living in a hot, flat, and crowded world, other problems threaten our existence. Key problems that threaten our prosperity as a global population emphasized in this book are: growing demand for scarce resources, the balance of wealth being tipped in favor of the oil producing nations, climate change, the uneven distribution of energy, and record plant and animal extinction rates.
Our Carbon Copies (or, Too Many Americans). This chapter begins with the portrayal of two examples of foreign cities which have rapidly transformed into American-like mega cities. One is Doha, Quatar, and the other is Dalian, China. Both are described as having high populations and massive amounts of infrastructure which have been built in response to consumer demand for technological products. Due to high levels of Carbon Dioxide pollution over a very short period, overpopulation, and industrial presence, these two cities have become hot, flat, and crowded. In the country of India, the presence of technological change and their niche of the last several years, the majority of the population has risen out of poverty to a life style of commuter traffic.
Fill ‘Er Up with Dictators. This chapter dives into the effects of petroleum on politics and economics. Members of the OPEC oil cartel earned an astonishing “$506 billion from exports” in 2006, and “$535 billion” in 2007 (Friedman, 112). The balance of wealth is continually and dramatically shifting in favor of oil producing countries—particularly those who export a lot of oil around the world. There is a new global trend of lifestyles based on the use of oil, and more of the world is now dependent on oil and therefore oil cartels. This money finds its way into political and religious agendas which hurt people and delay progress.
Global Weirding. This chapter warns us of the effects of global climate change. Friedman mentions his disgust with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina right here in the gulf-south region of the United States. A disgust for the results of the intensity of the storm—an intensity that was fueled by unusually warm gulf waters during the end of August, 2005. An interesting question that Friedman asks is whether the resulting catastrophe from a natural disaster is still considerable as “as an act of God” even if the intensity is fueled by or in direct result from the releasing of carbon emissions by man. We can no longer consider ourselves helpless viewers of the tapestry of weather and climate conditions—we need to understand that we have some role in the development of climate patterns into the future. Friedman goes on to compare available scientific data regarding the amount of carbon dioxide in the air over time.
The Age of Noah. “The Age of Noah” is a creative title to the eighth chapter of this book in which Friedman addresses concerns about our planet’s diminishing biodiversity. Friedman likens the biblical flood that threatened the existence of all biodiversity in the Old Testament to our global economy. The message is that we may act as Noah did and protect plant and animal life before it goes extinct. The upside of globalization as of now is that it has helped “bring more people out of poverty faster than ever before,” yet this turn from lush mother earth to more and more areas of urban development has increasingly threatened the existence of countless species of plants and animals (Friedman, 187).
Energy Poverty. Energy poverty refers to the unequal distribution of energy resources and infrastructure in the world. Friedman uses Africa as a basis of comparison to much of the rest of the world because Africa has so much raw land devoid of electrical infrastructure for its inhabitants. Having access to electrical infrastructure is key in our modern world to be able to ensure proper sanitation, access to health care, and to simply be able to cook safe food without dying from the indoor air pollution associated with poor ventilation while using an open flame. Unfortunately, less developed countries who are not contributing to global warming will suffer more from the ill effects of climate change which will make it even harder to have proper shelter and nutrient-rich soil.
Green is the New Red, White and Blue. It is important that with all of the problems already discussed, the human race, by way of the fist nation stepping up and making a change, move forward and lead an existence which is less harsh on the planet. The citizens of the world need a new clean energy system now—one that can reduce and eventually eliminate our carbon footprint. We can no longer hide the ill changes around us and there is no buffer for anyone to turn the blind eye. The new “Green” lifestyle that is necessary presents the companies who pioneer the movement with great opportunities as well. It also equates to “economic, political, innovative, and reputational power” for the nation who embraces this challenge and identity (Friedman, 212). An old way of viewing individuals who care about the preservation of the environment is to refer to them with the negative terms “tree-hugger” or “hippie.” This view was popular with those who were progressive in terms of our industrial progress and goals of last century. It is time for this way of thinking to yield to a new green movement, which Friedman fancies the title “code green.” Friedman wants his audience to understand that “green is the new red, white, and blue.”
205 Easy Ways to Save the Earth. This section focuses on the “supposed” green movement that we are currently experiencing in the United States. Many people would like to think that only a few minor changes will add up to a complete turnaround. This is good that people are starting to open up their minds to this “trend” and after all, many Americans look to what is considered trendy in order to decide what choices to make in their everyday lives. Unfortunately the changes that we need to make are more fundamental than a few product substitutions in individual households. Unfortunately many companies and entities with ill intent are now also branding themselves as “green.” This lends itself to people thinking that they are making more of a difference than they actually are while the problems continue to escalate.
The Energy Internet: When IT meets ET. This chapter begins to describe what a real clean energy implementation might be like. The energy systems of old which are still being utilized were never designed with anyone’s well being or efficiencies in mind. Instead they were designed to be efficient for the companies who administer them to install and to yield profit. This system is outdated and represents a time when no one cared about how much coal we use, or where the smog goes. In the future we will need smarter technologies that respond to changes in electrical demand, rather than continually run inefficiently. By changing core IT hardware such as hard drives and other infrastructure currently utilized, we can dramatically lower our energy usage—energy which we will use more wisely and efficiently.
The Stone Age Didn’t End Because We Ran Out of Stones. Chapter 13 of this book sends the message that we need to hurry up and act. We simply cannot wait until we run out of a given resource to worry about how to fulfill its void. Instead we need to innovate. We still have plenty of “stones” in circulation today. We cannot opt to regulate how the “stones” are utilized or juggled—we still need to innovate! Therefore, we cannot regulate our use of fossil fuels, or the standards to which they are refined and incorporated into the finished product of energy; we need to look beyond where we are and focus on where we are going.
If It Isn’t Boring, It Isn’t Green. It is important that people spend the time discussing adhering to increasing green standards. It is important that standards for cleaner emissions are raised. This will fuel innovation through a need to change—not just a desire. Therefore it is necessary that a lot of boring discussion, and a lot of boring legislation, and a lot of boring interactions between managers and engineers take place. This lays the groundwork for a pressing need for change. The pressing need for change will result in innovation to adhere to new standards.
A Million Noahs, A Million Arks. It is not enough to change to a green energy system worldwide. It is crucial to do so to stop the bleeding—and the effects on biodiversity—but it must be done together with a global campaign to create safe areas for endangered species to thrive now. Nations across the planet should according to Friedman, have “their own ark,” or in other words—a unique protected area where environmental conditions differ as region do so as to protect biodiversity of that given need. A lot of this movement can be accomplished through younger generations via improved education efforts.
Outgreening al-Queda (or, Buy One, Get Four Free). Going green, or thinking green is more than a clean energy movement. It is a way of life and way of strategizing. Much of what al-Queda has going for them is the fact that they do not use a lot of energy and are sustainable off of a lot less than for example, the United States military, which is dependent on a lot of energy derived from use of fossil fuels. This dependence limits the military’s ability to react quickly and helps determine the limits of what they can do and where they can do it. For the United States military to maintain power and to reflect upon our status of power as a nation, they must adapt to green technologies that are more practical such as solar power. Whether we are taking about a bedroom, a boardroom, a war-room, or even a war-zone, we need to fundamentally change our ways.
Can Red China Become Green China? China is growing more and more industrialized so quickly. In our modern era, and with a pressing need for the world to reduce carbon emissions, China needs to adopt new standards now. They cannot keep moving at such a rapid pace only to worry about the mess later. It seems as the government in China put a greater emphasis on the industrialization than on having clean air for the citizens to breathe. They need a society where the people stand up for their right to breathe clean air.
China For a Day (But Not For Two). In the eighteenth chapter of this book, Friedman stresses the importance for the United States to make big changes now. He thinks that maybe if the United States were China for a day it would be good enough for the leaders of our country to make a plan of action that is objective and quantifiable that we could stick to over the upcoming years. It seems that we spend so much time debating and performing research that we aren’t actually accomplishing much now—or for that matter, will we have by 20 years from now. If we could be China for long enough to make a statement only to then go on being good old fashioned America again in our own right then maybe, just maybe we could have experience more progress—but without going overboard and losing our identity.
A Democratic China, or a Banana Republic? Friedman stresses in the final chapter of the version 2.0 release of “Hot, Flat, and Crowded” that it is time to drastically raise awareness for the need for a green revolution. The citizens of our country need to demand a green revolution. The demands need to ring loud and clear to those in the government who have yet to make this a true political agenda. The grass-roots movement needs to spawn a new generation of politicians who understand this pressing need and act upon it, even if it is not easy.
Personal Insights
Why I think:
· The author is one of the most brilliant people around because he has the foresight to use the clues from where we have been as well as where we currently are to paint a picture of where we are going. He has compiled a telling argument from a pretty objective standpoint that expresses the world’s dire need for fundamental change. The way that he introduces the topics of challenges facing our world is tastefully done. Upon finishing this book the reader is left with a firm grasp of the perils we face, yet with the optimism that change is the next logical step, and therefore imminent.
· If I were the author of the book, I would have done these three things differently:
1. I would have written a children’s version as well. This would be easy to read for young people and would help get a new generation thinking about change.
2. I would have included more supplemental material as far as the opinions of other people who share the overall concern for change, but may have had different experiences that could lend to a more in depth understanding of the reader.
3. I would have given readers more information about sources they could visit as a next logical step for those who want to be proactive and let their voices be heard—for those who want a real revolution.
· Reading this book made me think differently about the topic in these ways:
1. I did not realize that there is such a dire need for innovation in our world. I became accustomed to enjoying certain luxuries without questioning the actual need for better ways, for example, to reduce emissions.
2. I figured that changes were made as changes were needed. I did not realize that there is so much politics involved that clouds our judgment and impedes the accomplishment of important milestones.
3. I realize now that nothing is truly free. Everything has a cost associated with it even if we do not end up paying our own debts.
· I’ll apply what I’ve learned in this book in my career by:
1. I will evaluate the costs associated with a decision, both financial and how it affects others, before making a decision. Furthermore, I will not take the path of least resistance in the now if it adversely affects anyone in the future.
2. I will lead by example and be an advocate for change. Every small step must be a step in the right direction.
3. If I work for someone else, I will only work for companies who are willing to accept responsibility for their actions.
· Here is a sampling of what others have said about the book and its author:
“What others (scholarly and magazine reviews – along with on-line reviews – not simply reviews off the back of the book) have said about the book and its author?”
Thomas L. Friedman has been getting a lot of attention from critics after the release of his major book titled “Hot, Flat, and Crowded.” As expected, some people agree with Friedman, as some people disagree with his ideas.
Columnist Gregg Easterbrook from popular website Slate.com agreed with some of Friedman’s points, although he disagreed with others. This is evident through the title of his review which is called “It’s Time to Turn Down the Heat. What Thomas Friedman’s doomsday environmental scenario gets wrong—and right.” In this review, Easterbrook criticizes Friedman’s citing of overpopulation and rising affluence as two problems we need to solve; Easterbrook notes, “ if resource trends and climate change are driven by rising population and rising affluence, which of these, precisely, do you propose to ban? I don’t like crowding, either, but that is the world’s fate for the next century or so, after which declining fertility is likely to cause population levels to fall. (Easterbrook, 2008).
New York Press columnist, Matt Taibbi is very critical of Thomas Friedman’s novel. This is also evident in the title of his editorial, “Someone Take Away Thomas Friedman’s Computer Before He Types Another Sentence.” In this editorial, Taibbi likens Friedman to someone who is just talking to himself. He actually goes on to attack Friedman based on presumptions of how big Friedman’s house is, saying things like, “Where does a man, who needs his own offshore drilling platform just to keep the east wing of his house heated, get the balls to write a book chiding America for driving energy-inefficient automobiles? Where does a guy whose family bulldozed 2.1 million square feet of pristine Hawaiian wilderness to put a Gap, an Old Navy, a Sears, an Abercrombie and even a Foot Locker in paradise get off preaching to the rest of us about the need for a ‘Green Revolution’” (Taibbi, 2008). Needless to say the rest is just as bad.
The reason that I compiled two negative reviews is that my own opinion of the book is positive, and I wanted to display both sides.
Bibliography
Easterbrook, G. (2008). Thomas Friedman’s Hot, Flat, and Crowded. Retrieved May 1, 2010, from Slate Web Site: http://www.slate.com/id/2199435/
Taibbi, M. (2009, January 22). Environment. Retrieved May 1, 2010, from AlterNet Web Site: http://www.alternet.org/environment/121617/someone_take_away_thomas_friedman%27s_computer_before_he_types_another_sentence/
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Contact Info: To contact the author of this “Summary and Review of Hot, Flat, and Crowded,” please email Jonathan.Gilleland@selu.edu.
BIOGRAPHY
David C. Wyld (dwyld.kwu@gmail.com) is the Robert Maurin Professor of Management at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. He is a management consultant, researcher/writer, and executive educator. His blog, Wyld About Business, can be viewed at http://wyld-business.blogspot.com/. He also maintains compilations of his student’s publications regarding management concepts (http://toptenmanagement.blogspot.com/), book reviews (http://wyld-about-books.blogspot.com/), international foods (http://wyld-about-food.blogspot.com/).
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