co>innovative

I lack a specific definition or term for what I have been writing about here — mainly because there isn’t one. “Crowdsourcing” comes close, but it is a bit constraining in that it connotes outsourcing work to the crowd, which is only part of the story. Thus, in light of that, I will be posting a series covering the various aspects of whatever the hell this is that I am talking about with examples of each portion in action. It will by no means be exhaustive, but it should provide a good overview of some interesting orgs that are leveraging these principles.

So, let’s set out with a few of the current names for it and related concepts that feed into it:

The overarching themes revolve around: Crowdsourcing; Outside Innovation; Innovation Networks; the Wisdom of crowds; and Customer co-creation.

These larger initiatives are supported by: Web 2.0/Social Computing; Mass Customization; the Long Tail; Open Innovation; Peer production; Prediction markets; Voting and ratings; Competitions and prizes; Lead users; Transparent business practices; and Democratized content creation and distribution.

(Don’t forget, Sami Viitamaki has a pretty generalized but effective take on how to think about Crowdsourcing in particular with his FLIRT model.)

So, going forward I am going to touch on a variety of topics that will hopefully clear things up a bit. Some of the topics I will cover:

• Crowdfunding
• Prediction markets
• Crowdsourcing: Graphic design
• Customer co-creation and crowdsourcing: New product development
• Home Fabbing and Crowdsourcing: Physical product design and development
• Crowdsourcing: Content creation
• Crowd feedback; or, Business starts to listen
• Crowdsourcing: Problem solving
  
• Many hands make light work: The atomization of work resulting in the completion of massive jobs.
  
• Crowdcooperation
  

All of this stuff is connected somehow, is undergirded by similar philosophies, tools and technology, and methodologies — and I love geeking out about it. There are some powerful changes hidden in all of this and, while many of the concepts have been with us and operating for some time — centuries even — only recently has a confluence of developments led to the ability to really harness it all.

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According to Patricia Seybold in these two great posts from a while back, Biz 3.0.  While I don’t think we need another buzz-phrase, she does a great job of summarizing why this is all so important and lasting. Business is in the midst of being transformed by the evolution of the Internet in ways that are much deeper than have been realized thus far. By opening up businesses and bringing in customers whenever feasible, doing business takes on a whole new form, one in which leaders of the business are orchestrators of innovation and serving the customer in the best way possible using input from every available channel both internal and external.

“Customers lead us beyond a customer-empowered Web strategy to a customer outcome-driven business strategy.”

With Web 2.0, customers are talking to each other. With Enterprise 2.0 customers are talking to businesses in much more dynamic, deep, and interesting ways than ever thought possible. The line between employee and customer has become blurred in some cases and interests are aligned. Biz 3.0, as Patricia defines it, will bring those two pieces even closer together. The customer is no longer at odds with the firm but an integral part of the entire process.

Well, I think it’s exciting….

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Josh Bernoff, over at my fabulous former employer Forrester, is working on a book related to just about everything I am talking about here. He’s got a great post up laying out the major sections of Groundswell, which he is writing with Charlene Li. (Who I helped out with RSS research back in the magical early days before syndication took off.) Here, again, is another great example of the philosophy I am trying to leverage with Etch Connection (or The Etch Connection or etchConnection) and my fanciful product development scheme.

LISTENING. Finding out what your customers are really saying. Best tools are brand monitoring, private communities like Communispace, ratings/reviews.

SPEAKING. Connecting with your customers in new ways, extending PR and marketing. Best tools are blogs, podcasts, participation in MySpace/YouTube and other user-generated media.

ENERGIZING. Getting your best customers to evangelize your products. Best tools are public communities and ratings/reviews.

SUPPORTING. Helping customers solve their own and each other’s problems. Best tools are blogs, forums, wikis.

EMBRACING. Working with your customers to make products better. Best tools are communities, user-generated media.

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I don’t know why it took me so long to get to reading it, but the oddly titled Cluetrain Manifesto is as ridiculously right on today as it was in 2000 when it was published. Summing it up: “Markets are conversations”. And just about everything else they discuss has come to pass or at the very least, people are starting to catch on. Blogging, social networks, online reviews, etc. etc. the whole amorphous web 2.0 blob was described in general terms in this book. It gets at the core of what is necessary in this networked world whether as an individual or organization: authenticity, connection, and a voice. Companies have for too long created a barrier between itself and the market and its employees. And this lays out much of the thinking behind the direction I want to go in with my venture and with any company I may work for in the future. So you should really read it. Really. You should.

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