A while ago, I was watching on TV the Olympics in Turin when the commentator shouted something that surprised me and that I'll never forget. An Olympic skier was speeding downhill when he suddenly skidded on a curve.

The commentator said: "Oh my God, he wasted so much time -- a whole second!"

I think the new increasingly connected global economy will be that intense. Every second will count. This is more or less the message that Thomas Friedman delivered in his book The World is Flat - A Brief History of The 21st Century (well, "brief" is a relative term because the book is actually 469 pages long!).

Friedman could have used another title for his book: "Welcome to The Olympic Economy. Let The Games Begin!"

The point is, we live in a truly global economy where any knowledge worker on the planet can compete directly against any other knowledge worker.

The remedy, Friedman says, is to constantly upgrade your skills and learn new ones.

The problem, of course, is that companies only train employees to become better at their job. The skills acquired may or may not be useful from a career standpoint. For example, employers will rarely teach employees how to network, negotiate, or anything that can increase the worker's career options, mobility or -- God forbid -- bargaining power.

It would be like a husband teaching his wife the art of seduction!

I fear that unless people wake up to the new reality of a global economy, they will not take the appropriate actions to equip themselves with the very best knowledge and skills in order to succeed in the new intensely competitive job marketplace.

We'll do our best to keep you up to date on the latest developments so you can prepare and perhaps brace yourself for the new career challenges ahead.