When I worked in corporate all those many
years ago, I was exposed to certain tools and terms that we used to solve
problems. In the beginning, we relied on a single expert to do the job. Anything
difficult was sent to their cubicle and after copious amounts of coffee and
late nights the solution would emerge in forms of an equally complicated
result. This not only kept their job secure but created an envious career path
for other techies.
Later on we began to use a team approach,
mostly because the expert resigned and left us with all the problems. We would
assemble in the boss’s office and scribble on the board and discuss things until
we came up with a solution, then try to fix it ourselves.
As the world began to spin faster the
issues became bigger and we often outsourced these to other expert companies.
They would arrive in suits and with laptops and get to work until a suitable
solution was solved. At this time the internet was starting to happen and chat rooms
began popping up. Problems were taken online and we discussed all our personal
issues with our new cyber friends. Then we had techie chat rooms, and online
FAQ. Now we have Wiki-this and Wiki-that. Information and online help are a given,
but this does not always solve our problem that may require an abstract view or
a bit of creative imagination. Enter crowdsourcing solutions: The ability to
place an issue on a platform and partake in an online discussion around the
problem until it is fully resolved. Collective intelligence, exponential
wisdom, call it what you want but it works. If you get enough people to answer
a question you will get the right answer. Wouldn’t it be great to get a website
to do all this for us? Oh, yes we have one already. Evly, find a topic, build a website and solve
problems. We have our Entrepreneur
site running there with great success. We will also soon add one for
Innovation, Finance and Leadership. The future of ‘us’ is here. Do not miss this
boat. The engines are already running.