Thursday 12 August 2010

Crowdsourcing

After admitting that crowdsourcing was a new concept for me, I now have my head firmly stuck in the book of the same name by Jeff Howe.

It doesn’t take much reading to recognise a phenomenon that has been growing for some time. Development of the Linux operating system is perhaps the best known of the many-hands-make-light-work idea, but there are many more. Software development. Logo design. Computer time. It seems there is a vast underworld of worker bees doing stuff outside of the normal business model, just for the sheer joy of being involved.

What comes across most compellingly when you check out each of the examples is that these people are all doing something they love. Programming. Designing. Writing. Whatever. They don’t see it as work, but as a privilege to be involved in.

It seems to me that there are two really important ideas that come out of this “oh, my goodness, what a brilliant idea crowdsourcing is” thing:

1. When people do something they love, and are good at, they produce excellent results
2. When like-minded people get together to do something they love, and are good at, they produce amazingly excellent results

Unsurprisingly, others have read the book and are clambering onto the crowdsourcing bandwagon. Large companies (Dell, Google, and I’m sure many others) are taking advantage of something that clearly has benefit to their bottom line if they can get it right.

But you don’t have to be Dell or Google to make use of this idea. The idea of managed collaboration was highlighted in a comment to a post just a few days ago. Whether the people you are collaborating with are in the next cubicle, the next town, or several routers away on another continent hardly matters. What matters is bringing people together to create something more extraordinary than anyone could produce on their own. Technology is as beautiful as nature sometimes.

As an aside, if you are reading this and have an opinion or two on anything you have read, leave a comment. Whilst my merry band of readers might not quite fit the definition of a crowd, they do massively enhance and expand the value to everyone by adding, challenging and commenting.

28 comments:

  1. It's interesting how us oldies get very excited about all of this - when actually it's just one of the signs and symptoms of the new 'flat' world our children will be living in. Personally, i am very interested in crowdsourcing and how we build new business models around these tech driven opportunities that have collaboration and expert communities at their core. I think its a mistake to think that crowsourcing isn't/can't/won't be monetarised. Check out the mashable blog's guide to creative uses for crowdsourcing, a little bit old now but still useful for inspiration, http://mashable.com/2010/05/26/creative-crowdsourcing/.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This article was published today in the UK's New Media Age on how crowdsourcing is being applied to creative Marketing so there is a lot of mileage in it and it may become simply part of the way things are done. http://bit.ly/NMAaug12

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jenny - love the Mashable article. So many examples, so much opportunity ...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous - thanks for adding to the conversation. I can't get to the NM article, but I agree, the internet + people's passions are opening up whole new areas. It will be interesting to see how this develops.

    ReplyDelete
  5. geffnerkersch.com Divorce Attorney Nassau County NY, Prenuptial Agreements Nassau County NY. Call us now: (516) 268-9898

    ReplyDelete
  6. Atopcommercialpaving.com offers Commercial Paving, Asphalt Contractor, and Parking Lot Resurfacing at Queens NY, Nassau County, Bayside NY, Jamaica NY, Middle Village NY, Ozone Park NY, Howard Beach NY, Little Neck NY

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nyallpurposepaving.com offers Paving Contractor, Parking Lot Repairs, sealing, striping, Oil and Stone Driveways at Riverhead NY, Quogue NY, Hamptons NY, Southampton NY, Sag Harbor NY, Green point NY, Wading River NY, East Moriches NY, Center Moriches NY, Mannorville NY, Miller Place NY , Mt. Sinai NY,Greenport NY

    ReplyDelete
  8. Diskdatadestruction.net offers hard drive destruction, Paper shredding at Hauppauge NY, Suffolk County NY, Long Island NY, Ronkonkoma NY, Melville NY, Huntington NY, Garden City NY, Farmingdale NY, Westbury NY, Bohemia NY, Stony Brook NY,
    and Nassau County NY

    ReplyDelete
  9. geffnerkersch.com Divorce Attorney Nassau County NY, Prenuptial Agreements Nassau County NY. Call us now: (516) 268-9898

    ReplyDelete
  10. Atopcommercialpaving.com offers Commercial Paving, Asphalt Contractor, and Parking Lot Resurfacing at Queens NY, Nassau County, Bayside NY, Jamaica NY, Middle Village NY, Ozone Park NY, Howard Beach NY, Little Neck NY

    ReplyDelete
  11. Jettonsgrading.com offers Grading, Excavation and Paving Contractor, Land Clearing Services, Septic Systems, Retaining Walls and Driveways, Drainage Systems, Construction Site Clean-Up, Demolition Contractor at Walhalla SC, Seneca SC

    ReplyDelete
  12. Bedbugprocpc.com offers Bed Bug Exterminator, Bed Bug Inspections, Bed Bug Elimination, Bed Bug Inspection for Hotels and Residential and Commercial Bed Bug at Palo Alto CA, San Mateo CA, San Jose CA, Belmont CA, San francisco CA, Redwood City CA, Sunnyvale CA

    ReplyDelete
  13. reliablecommercialpaving.com offers Parking lot paving, walk way construction, Commercial paving, asphalt, Parking Lot Repairs, Parking Lot Striping, Commercial Blacktop, Parking Lot Repairs, Commercial Paving Contractor, Commercial Asphalt Contractor at New Jersey at Hanover NJ, East Orange NJ, Newark NJ, Morristown NJ, Summit NJ , Union NJ, Hackensack NJ, Patterson NJ

    ReplyDelete
  14. Davispestmanagement.com offers Pest Control, Exterminator, Bed Bug Removal, Inspections, Rodent, Pest Elimination, Commercial, Residential, Professional, Licensed Exterminator , Scorpion, Bee Hive, Hornet, Fire Ant Removal by Service Area, Las Vegas NV

    ReplyDelete
  15. Nyallpurposepaving.com offers Paving Contractor, Parking Lot Repairs, sealing, striping, Oil and Stone Driveways at Riverhead NY, Quogue NY, Hamptons NY, Southampton NY, Sag Harbor NY, Green point NY, Wading River NY, East Moriches NY, Center Moriches NY, Mannorville NY, Miller Place NY , Mt. Sinai NY,Greenport NY

    ReplyDelete
  16. Landscape , Outdoor, Landscape Lighting Installation, Lawn Sprinkler Design, Repairs, Installation, Lawn Irrigation Service, Sprinkler System Backflow Testing at Long Island, Nassau County, Suffolk County, Dix Hills NY, Huntington NY, Syosset NY, Smithtown NY and Happauge NY

    ReplyDelete
  17. Complete-pest-control.com offers Pest Control, Exterminator, Rodent Control, Rodent Elimination, and Pest Elimination at Palo Alto CA, San Mateo CA, San Francisco CA, Redwood City CA, Sunnyvale CA, and Belmont CA

    ReplyDelete
  18. Viceroy Investigations and Consulting LLC is a member of the Chamber of Commerce of the Massapequa's offer security consulting, assessments and training to large and small businesses. Let us help you design and implement policies that aid in Safe hiring, Work Place security and Information Security. Call us: 516-694-009

    ReplyDelete
  19. Viceroy Investigations and Consulting LLC is a member of the Chamber of Commerce of the Massapequa's offer security consulting, assessments and training to large and small businesses. Let us help you design and implement policies that aid in Safe hiring, Work Place security and Information Security. Call us: 516-694-0093

    ReplyDelete
  20. Realestatebydavidschoelles.com offers David Schoelles Real Estate, Cash for Homes at Arizona, Scottsdale AZ, and Phoenix AZ

    ReplyDelete
  21. Yankeeclippersbarbershop.com offers Barbershop, Men’s Haircuts, Straight razor cuts, Neck shave, Trendy haircuts, Barber, Straight Razor shaves at Augusta GA. Call us now: 706.496.3342

    ReplyDelete
  22. davidschoelles.net offersDavid Schoeless Plumbing, David Schoeless at AZ, Scottsdale AZ, Phoenix AZ

    ReplyDelete
  23. Carpet, upholstery cleaning, carpet stain, odor removal, carpet steam, ceramic tile, commercial carpet cleaning at mobile al

    ReplyDelete
  24. The Center for Body Wellness offers Massage and CBD Massage at Rochester NY. Call us now: 585-266-6730

    ReplyDelete
  25. Rrsteelfabaz offers tool fabrication, custom awnings, Hand Rails, Decorative Hand Rails, and Security Cages, Steel Coating Custom Ironwork, Ornamental Hand Rails, Welding at Tucson AZ

    ReplyDelete
  26. Kitchen cabinets and Kitchen cabinet supplier, remodeling, countertops, New Kitchen Cabinets, Wood Kitchen Cabinets

    ReplyDelete
  27. norwalkfloorsanding.com offers Wood Floor refinishing, Installation, Oak Floor Refinishing, Staining, Flooring Contractor, Wood Floor Sanding, Residential Wood Flooring in Norwalk CT

    ReplyDelete