We Are Smarter Than Me:
How to Unleash the Power of Crowds
in Your Business
We Are Smarter Than Me
AuthorBarry Libert
Jon Spector
and hundreds of other contributors [1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreNon-fiction
PublisherWharton School Publishing
Publication date
October 5, 2007
Media typeHardcover
Pages176 pp (Hardcover edition)
ISBN978-0-13-224479-4
OCLC144330898
658/.044 22
LC ClassHD69.S8 L53 2008

We Are Smarter Than Me is a collaborative-writing project using wiki software, whose initial goal was producing a book about decision making processes that use large numbers of people. The first book was published as a printed book, late in 2007, by the publishing conglomerate Pearson Education. Along with Pearson, the project's four core sponsors include research institutes of the MIT Sloan School of Management and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

The wiki book was featured in a November 28, 2006, broadcast of NPR's All Things Considered.

History and overview of project

The project was started as "a business community formed by business professionals to research and discuss the impact of social networks on traditional business functions".[2] Initiated by illustrious faculty from the Wharton School and MIT Sloan School of Management

The people behind this initiative[3][4] are Barry Libert, CEO of Shared Insights, Jon Spector, vice dean and director of Wharton's Aresty Institute of Executive Education, Thomas W. Malone, Patrick J. McGovern Professor of Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and founder and director of the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence, Tim Moore, editor-in-chief of Pearson Education and Jerry (Yoram) Wind, Lauder Professor and Professor of Marketing at the Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania and founding director of the Wharton “think tank,” the SEI Center for Advanced Studies in Management.

The project was started in late 2006[5] and a wiki website was established to allow people to contribute text to the book. It was published on October 5, 2007.

Participation

According to the project's website,[6] "over a million students, faculty and alumni of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the MIT Sloan School of Management, as well as leaders, authors, and experts from the fields of management and technology were invited to contribute in a wiki-based community that coalesced at wearesmarter.org. Members were asked to develop and share their insights about why community approaches work or don't work when it comes to marketing, business development, distribution, and more, and what companies have to do to make them work better."

They had reached the following participation statistics[7] by the time the book was ready for publication:

  • 4375 registered members
  • 737 forum posts
  • 250 wiki contributors
  • 1600 wiki posts

The project's website reports that, "In addition to actual community members and contributors, the project was influenced by hundreds of bloggers, Podcasters, and conference attendees at the inaugural Community 2.0 Conference in Las Vegas."[7]

Advisory board

The project's advisory board for phase 1 (the writing of the first book) included:

Chairman:

Board members:

  • Tim Moore of Wharton School Publishing and FTPress.
  • Jimmy Wales — founder and former Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation.
  • Yoram (Jerry) Wind is The Lauder Professor and Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is the founding director of the Wharton "think tank", The SEI Center for Advanced Studies in Management.
  • Philip Evans — a senior vice president in the Boston office of the Boston Consulting Group, author of the best-selling book Blown to Bits.

Content

According to the authors,[6] "the goal of the project was to develop a book that addresses what other best-selling books on community have not. Wikinomics and The Wisdom of Crowds have identified the phenomena of emerging social networks, but they do not confront how businesses can profit from the wisdom of crowds".[6]

The book contains case studies from several companies, including Eli Lilly and Company, Amazon.com, Dell Computers, Cambrian House, Angie's List and Procter & Gamble

Media coverage and acceptance

The project received wide coverage in US media, including such venues as The Wall Street Journal, Forbes.com, Newsweek and NPR's radio show "All Things Considered".[8] The book was ranked #6 in Amazon's "Best of 2007" and "Top 10 book to inspire your business for 2008" from TheStreet.com.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "We are Smarter Than Me: How to Unleash the Power of Crowds in Your Business > The We Are Smarter Contributors - Pg. : Safari Books Online". Safaribooksonline.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "Initiatives to harness the power of collective intelligence". Gizmag.com. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  3. ↑ "Putting people first 2006 October". Experientia.com. Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ "Is 'We' Really Smarter Than 'Me'? Wharton, MIT, And Pearson Will Find Out". InformationWeek. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  6. 1 2 3
  7. 1 2 "Mzinga Learning Management and Social Collaboration Tools". Mzinga. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  8. ↑ "Collective Wisdom: 'We Are Smarter Than Me'". Archived from the original on May 7, 2008. Retrieved October 2, 2008.
  9. ↑ "Mzinga OmniSocial Learning - Mzinga". Mzinga. Archived from the original on 2009-02-07. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
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