In his The New York Times column, Tom Friedman asks and answers the question: Is China the next Enron? He argues that Chinese censorship of the web restricts knowledge flows and doing so diminishes the rate of innovation. There is compelling historical evidence to support Friedman’s view. As I explained in my book Fired Up or Burned Out:
The danger to nations that reduce knowledge flow is apparent throughout history. By isolating themselves and their countries, the leaders of civilizations have missed opportunities for innovation and growth. China in 1400 had the best and largest fleet of ships in the world (over a period of three years the Chinese built or refitted 1,681 ships). With their enormous fleet, the Chinese sailed to Indonesia, Arabia, East Africa, and India. Gradually, however, the Chinese emperor’s attitude toward the benefits of foreign travel shifted as he favored domestic agriculture over maritime interests. By 1436, the Chinese were diverting resources from maintaining the ships, and by 150o, anyone who built a ship with more than two masts was subject to the death penalty. In 1525, the Chinese authorities ordered all oceangoing ships to be destroyed and their owners arrested.
A period of Chinese isolation from the rest of the world began. At the time of the ships’ destruction China led the world in innovation. It had developed gunpowder, deep drilling, printing, paper, porcelain, cast iron, and the compass. China’s isolation, however, prevented it from knowing about developments beyond its borders, the ideas and information that had contributed to its high rate of innovation when Chinese ships were sailing the world. In recent decades, economic reforms and social freedoms have reconnected China to the broader world, resulting in increased Chinese economic growth.
Like the Chinese civilization, the Arab-Islamic civilization became isolated in the sixteenth century as its leaders adopted the view that the world beyond them had little to offer. As a result of the isolationism adopted by the Chinese and Arab-Islamic civilizations, both began a period of steady decline in innovation and economic output. Meanwhile, European innovation and output increased with its expanding conquests in the New World and the opening up of European society following the Enlightenment. The lack of knowledge flow in the Chinese and Arab-Islamic civilizations contributed to their fall from being global leaders in innovation and creativity, just as Europe’s increased knowledge flow contributed to its rise
If you want to read more about knowledge flow including the three benefits of knowledge flow as well as actions you can take to increase knowledge flow in your organization, here’s a free pdf download of Fired Up or Burned Out (read chapters 11 and 12) and an article that was published in Perdido entitled “Encourage Knowledge Flow.”
