The World is Round says Laurence Prusak

I have not yet read 'The World is Flat' by Thomas Friedman. My brother-in-law has a copy and all I have to do is to borrow it. I am not at all sold out to the idea that world has become flat. Why? Laurence Prusak says it beautifully through this HBS article:

Yes, we are interconnected on a truly astonishing scale. But Gates, Friedman, and many others make a fundamental error when they argue that brute connectivity will level the playing field, giving that twentysomething in Shanghai the ability to compete head-to-head with anyone, anywhere in the world. Their mistake is that they’re confusing information with knowledge.

This isn’t a new idea. College professors have forever struggled with students’ efforts to pass off the former as the latter. But consultants, journalists, and businesspeople have dangerously blurred the distinction as they’ve championed trillions of dollars worth of IT purchases made with the intention of “managing knowledge.” For the most part, what we’ve built is a vast global IT infrastructure that is very good at moving information, but not knowledge, from one place to another.

Have a look at the article.

This is what I had said when HBS invited reader's comments on the level playing field or the flat world:

I wonder if it is more meaningful to address the question "What is a Level Playing Field?" to:

A person who doesn't have roof over his or her head.

A person who has to force his or her children into child labor to make ends meet.

A person who has gone hungry tonight or does not know where his or her next meal is going to come from.

Someone in a village where there is no electricity, roads, or even a school.

And then, probably, we should wonder what we are doing to create a level playing field for them or even if it is a priority.

You can see the reader's comments in full here.