What I’m reading now

Anybody who relies upon Wikipedia as their default font of all knowledge already knows the value of mass collaboration. If, as we’re told, two heads are better than one, then distilling the knowledge of thousands offers almost limitless potential.

Wikinomics argues that the arrival of the “new Web” means the dawning of a new age for businesses. In place of small, talented groups of professionals, we have products and services being created and updated by online users numbering in their thousands, if not millions.

The book encourages all companies to harness the potential of mass collaboration. While critics argue this simply produces “mass mediocrity”, Wikinomics argues that open systems produce faster and more powerful results.

Will companies be willing to abandon tried-and-tested business practice and adopt a radical new method as the recession hits them? My opinion is that companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon have very clearly harnessed the power of mass collaboration and achieved huge success, while others still struggle in their own silos. New ideas lead to innovation and growth – and collaboration is the way forward.