We Are Smarter Than Me

We Are Smarter Than Me: Unleashing the Power of Crowds in Your Business

About the Authors

Barry Libert and Jon Spector, along with thousands of contributors, co-authored "We Are Smarter Than Me" to explore and elucidate the concept of harnessing the collective intelligence of crowds to drive business success. Barry Libert is the CEO of Mzinga, a provider of business social networks, and Jon Spector is the vice dean of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and the CEO of The Conference Board. The book is the product of extensive collaboration facilitated through wikis, involving over 4,000 contributors from top business schools and organizations.

Main Idea

The central premise of "We Are Smarter Than Me" is that the collective intelligence of a group can surpass the capabilities of individual members. The book delves into the concepts of crowdsourcing, wikinomics, and open-source technology, providing practical guidance on leveraging these ideas to create value in business. It underscores the transformative potential of community-driven innovation, illustrating how businesses can tap into the power of online masses to improve products, services, and overall corporate performance.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. The Power of the Collective "We"
3. Web 2.0 and Crowdsourcing
4. Innovation Jam: IBM's Success Story
5. R&D to R&WE: Procter & Gamble's Transformation
6. Customer Service Revolution
7. Customer as Marketer
8. Building Community
9. The Future of Work
10. Conclusion

Introduction

In the introduction, the authors set the stage by contrasting the traditional view of groupthink with the emerging recognition of the collective intelligence's potential. They cite historical skepticism about groups being smarter than individuals, referencing the old adage, "a camel is a horse designed by a committee." However, recent advancements in technology and successful examples of crowdsourcing have begun to shift this perception.

The Power of the Collective "We"

The book begins by exploring the transformative impact of the Internet on human society. The authors compare the Internet Age to the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution, highlighting how it has connected nearly a billion people, creating an unprecedented reservoir of collective brainpower. They state, "The power of the collective 'we' is nearly unfathomable" (Libert & Spector).

Libert and Spector explain that each brain is connected by billions of neurons, and now, these individual brainpowers are amplified by technology, allowing for mass collaboration. This collective intelligence, once reserved for simpler organisms like ants and bees, is now being driven by human IQ, resulting in a quantum leap in the world's ability to conceive, create, compute, and connect.