David (crowdsourcing) vs Goliath (innovation)

Crowdsourcing is predicted to outshine innovation. According to one research, nearly 50% entrepreneurs/startups are developing “knowledge-as-a-service” models, and crowdsourcing (not innovation)is THE jump-starter. Crowdsourcing has crowdsortium. Innovation hasn’t.

Google crowdsources creating maps in India.

But, crowd-wisdom has limitations and might encounter black-swans in complex systems.

LEGO, which almost went bankrupt in 1990s, changed its “chief-brick,” started an adult line, appointed ambassadors and is back on track – open innovation+customer engagement.

Threadless, MyStarbucksIdea – crowdsourcing successes; Apple iPhone, Starbucks VIA, …  successes ignoring crowd-wisdom.

Crowd-wisdom as “corporate/customer democracy” is oxymoron – an intermediate layer filters/selects raw input.

Crowdsourcing + innovation = ?(needn’t be 0-sum game)

Making the world a better place

Mobile-app developer Jonathan Stark is an idealist. He fully charged his Starbucks gift card and posted its barcode online, offering free Starbucks coffee to the entire internet. He asks people to use it or – and this is the best part – to reload the card. His radical generosity pays off.

Check wikiHow article “How To Make The World A Better Place.” Point #1: Try to avoid stepping on ants or bugs. Point #22: BECOME VEGAN.

Burgess needs to get big credit for “world betterment,” as his 170 books/15,000 children’s stories, his column “Bedtime Stories” and “Radio Nature League” series molded us.