Thomas Friedman's Counterintuitive Strategy to Cope with Rapid Global Change (Video)

The New York Times columnist and bestselling author gives USDEC members his big-picture vision of where this era of "giant accelerations" is going.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and best-selling author Thomas Friedman says an interweave of three forces are transforming the world with unprecedented speed.

“We are in middle of three giant accelerations, all at same time, with the three largest forces on the planet,” Friedman said during his keynote address at the U.S. Dairy Export Council Board of Directors and Annual Membership Meeting.

The meeting was held October 16 at the Swissotel in Chicago and included executives of U.S. dairy companies looking for insights to expand their global reach.

"The interweave of Mother Nature (biodiversity loss, climate change, population growth), the market (digital globalization) and Moore’s Law (technology and the massive gains in computing capacity) are not just changing your world, they are reshaping it at a faster-than-ever pace," Friedman said.

That creates a host of challenges to people as well as businesses, including U.S. dairy farmers and suppliers.

Friedman made what may seem like a counterintuitive point. He explained that to overcome the multiple stresses of an age of accelerations we must slow down.

That helps explain the title of his best-selling book, "Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist's Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations." He elaborates on that point and many others in the hour-long video below.

Watch video below of Thomas Friedman's address to USDEC members.  

Mark O'Keefe is vice president of editorial services at the U.S. Dairy Export Council. 

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The U.S. Dairy Export Council fosters collaborative industry partnerships with processors, trading companies and others to enhance global demand for U.S. dairy products and ingredients. USDEC is primarily supported by Dairy Management Inc. through the dairy farmer checkoff. How to republish this post.