In the Flat world, if something can be done, it will be done; question is, will You do it! asks globalization guru Thomas L Friedman

And with easy availability of computing and connectively through internet, the new Flat world empowers the individuals, more that it does the corporations, to implement their ideas. Thats the message from Thomas L Friedman, the guru of Globalization and author of best seller The World is Flat. Speaking at a lecture organized by Penguin Books India in New Delhi on October 29, Friedman said, The new Flat world uses the PC, Internet and workflow processes to connect individuals and businesses in an unprecedented way. It is these developments that allow Outsourcing, Internet driven businesses and much more. And the new Flat world is all about power to the individuals rather than companies. Individuals with smart ideas are the driving force of business today.

Urging entrepreneurs-in-the-making, Friedman said, In todays global world, if an idea can be put to work, it will be. If you are thinking about an idea that can make a business, it is certain that someone in another part of the world is also thinking and working on that idea. Question is will you do it!

During his lecture, Friedman took the audience though the evolution of his book The World is Flat. Friedman said that the book was actually a fallout of his visit to Bangalore in 2004 when he was visiting to study the Outsourcing model. In one of his meetings with Nandan Nilekani, Co-founder of Infosys, Nilekani said that the reason for Outsourcing industry to do well is because, the global economic playing field is being leveled, and Americans are not ready. This led to Friedmans central thesis that the world is becoming flat.

During his lecture, Friedman also said that environment protection and going Green is very important for the world to continue benefiting from Globalization. Environment protection will also be a big economic opportunity. Friedman said, Like IT revolution of last century, Green is the next big opportunity. Green energy and technology offers the next wave of big business ideas. Friedman also announced that his next book will be on the theme of environment and business which will be titled as Green is the next red, white and blue.

Friedman is a world-renowned author and journalist who has been writing for The New York Times since 1981. A three-time Pulitzer Prize winner, he has traveled hundreds of thousands of miles reporting the Middle East conflict, the end of the cold war, U.S. domestic politics and foreign policy, international economics, and the worldwide impact of the terrorist threat. In 2005, The World Is Flat was given the first Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award.