Smart companies are encouraging, rather than fighting, the heaving growth of massive online communities—many of which emerged from the fringes of the Web to attract tens of millions of participants overnight. Even ardent competitors are collaborating on path-breaking science initiatives that accelerate discovery in their industries. Indeed, as a growing number of firms see the benefits of mass collaboration, this new way of organizing will eventually displace the traditional corporate structures as the economy’s primary engine of wealth creation.
Billions of connected individuals can now actively participate in innovation, wealth creation, and social development in ways we once only dreamed of. And when these masses of people collaborate they can collectively advance the arts, culture, science, education, government, and the economy in surprising but ultimately profitable ways. Companies that engage with these exploding Web-enabled communities are already discovering the true dividends of collective capability and genius.
How to build an amazing blog - Some members of the Wikinomics team spoke this morning about what makes a blog effective. Our friend Neil Pasricha provides a case study in how to create an amazing contribution to the blogosphere. His site 1000awesomethings which launched earlier this year has almost 1 million visits and tons of daily readers. What makes it so effective? Here [...]
Retailers on Facebook: fan pages versus user groups - I don' t have to go over all the reasons why social networks are becoming so important for marketers these days, as I believe most wikinomics readers have seen them before. However, my interest in how companies engage with Facebook in particular was piqued again when I read this eMarketer report about the social networking presence [...]
Obama’s web 2.0 strategy: from campaigning to governing, part 1 - Obama' s election win was a real beauty. It was a vindication of the American people (if I may so say), a shot in the arm for democracy, and it probably changed the world for the better over the course of one truly historic day. But as we all know, the tremendous goodwill and hope that [...]
The wisdom of crowds vs. uniquely qualified minds - The sub-title for wikinomics is how mass collaboration changes everything, which naturally creates the visual of an enormous amount of people working together towards a common end. In turn, it is hardly a surprise that if you look up wikinomics on Amazon, one the books it is most commonly purchased with is Surowiecki' s The Wisdom [...]
If the world could vote… - Can anyone see any blue in this map? See here for a mashup showing how the world stacks up for Obama and McCain. McCain has a slight edge in Albania (which, from what I understand, borders on the Adriatic. If you recognize that cultural reference, press one now). He also has a dominant lead (cough, [...]
The Problem with Knowledge Work Part II: You can’t manage what you can’t measure - In my last post, I talked about how collaboration creates a significant number of tasks that fall outside the sphere of regularly assigned work—things like providing feedback to others; reviewing documents and presentations; joining meetings, conversations, and online discussions; documenting best practices; and identifying new problems and solving them on an ad hoc basis. [...]
Wikinomics in Action: Brownbook.net gets prosumers invested for life - Reuben Donnelley created the first official yellow pages directory in 1886, and it' s been a pretty good business to be in ever since. Traditionally these directories have been printed by the local phone company, and they more or less had a natural monopoly supported by network effects - since that' s where all the potential customers [...]
18-year-old kid designs, manufactures, and sells product in 24 days - We' ve written before about Ponoko, the on-demand manufacturing service for everyday people. As a follow-up, I thought I' d share a story that was recently sent to me about how 18-year-old Alan Chao turned an idea into winning product in just 24 days. According to the Ponoko case study, Alan made his first set of coasters [...]
Meet the Beckers - We are all familiar with the typical car commercial; the car is seen cruising through scenic landscape on a closed course with a professional driver at the wheel and the narrator is in the background telling you about gas mileage, safety ratings and then some spiel about financing options. Whether you are watching an advertisement [...]
In Memoriam – Blogs (1993-2008?) - For a guy who loves reading online, I still feel mild excitement on magazine delivery day. Yes, I' m a Neanderthal who reads print on dead trees (or wheat, which fits the bill nicely for I live in a country whose rockers pay tribute to all things agrarian). There' s something about having a tactile [...]
What was the difference? The losers launched Web sites. The winners launched vibrant communities. The losers built walled gardens. The winners built public squares. The losers innovated internally. The winners innovated with their losers. The losers jealously guarded their data and software interfaces. The winners shared them with everyone.
The problem from an organizational and knowledge-management point of view, however, lies in the inability of firms to capture and codify those moments of inspired brilliance - the moments when someone does something spontaneous that could be the key to unlocking a whole new approach to getting things done. Mayfield suggests the self-organizing group formation process should occur in social software. “Those are the moments where the greatest amount of learning occurs”, he says.
… The wikified organization is a proposal for the ultimate in ‘flattening’ of an organization that was pushed, in most business schools, so heavily during the 90’s.
Posted by Wikinomics » Blog Archive » Wikinomics In The Blogosphere on 30.05.08 at 5:29 am
[...] Mike just came across this fantastic profile of the Wikinomics book and blog. Tags: web 1.0 web 2.0 wikinomics del.icio.us Digg it Furl [...]
Posted by Jean-Yves Huwart on 30.05.08 at 5:29 am
One of the most insightful book I have readen in the last couple of years. A must read for anyone who wants to understand the coming open economy.