Passion is the new currency of the 21st century. In a company, it’s no longer the determination of the individual that leads innovation but the passion of the masses
Crowdsourcing is the process by which the power of the many is harnessed on the internet to innovate. Jobs previously performed by a few employees can now be outsourced to large groups. These communities have been found to be smarter than individuals, using intuition rather than specialist knowledge to make a breakthrough.
Jeff Howe, author of Crowdsourcing, believes that, to yield the power of the crowd, every business needs to envision itself in a partnership with current and potential customers.
‘Companies need to identify their passionate users,’ explains Howe. ‘Crowdsourcing is hard, but almost all of the successful examples are taking place in the context of an online community. It’s not that these people want to talk to the company, but people want to talk to each other and discuss ideas. It’s the new age of collaboration.’
In 2000, two US college friends, Jake Nickell and Jacob DeHart, launched www.Threadless.com, a business with crowdsourcing at its very core. The idea was simple: sell cool T-shirts designed for the people, by the people. Would-be customers submitted their designs online, everyone would vote and give feedback on their favourite and the successful design was manufactured and sold on the site. Winners receive stocks of their T-shirt free. Genius!
‘Large companies are used to doing it all themselves,’ concludes Howe. ‘Smaller businesses, however, can build crowdsourcing into their DNA.’
5 tips on crowdsourcing
1. Choose your model. Crowdsourcing isn’t a single entity – it’s an umbrella term for a varied group of approaches. Decide what your ultimate goal is and then pick the best model to suit.
2. Pick the right crowd. Craft your message for your purpose and broadcast it through the appropriate outlets.
3. Offer the right incentives. People need to feel rewarded for their efforts, even if the money in question is just a token amount.
4. Crowdsourcing doesn’t work in isolation. The most successful efforts are products of a robust collaboration between the crowd and the individuals guiding them.
5. The community is always right. You can try to guide the community but ultimately you’ll wind up following them.
Back to top