Wikinomics and The Wisdom of Crowds identified the phenomena of emerging social networks, but they do not confront how businesses can profit from the wisdom of crowds. WE ARE SMARTER THAN ME by Barry Libert and Jon Spector, Foreword by Wikinomics author Don Tapscott, is the first book to show anyone in business how to profit from the wisdom of crowds. Drawing on their own research and the insights from an enormous community of more than 4,000 people, Barry Libert and Jon Spector have written a book that reveals what works, and what doesn't, when you are building community into your decision making and business processes. In We Are Smarter Than Me, you will discover exactly how to use social networking and community in your business, driving better decision-making and greater profitability. The book shares powerful insights and new case studies from product development, manufacturing, marketing, customer service, finance, management, and beyond. You'll learn which business functions can best be accomplished or supported by communities; how to provide effective moderation, balance structure with independence, manage risk, define success, implement effective metrics, and much more. From tools and processes to culture and leadership, We Are Smarter than Me will help you transform the promise of social networking into a profitable reality.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 23 Ratings

Superficial description - 2008-02-06
Reviewer Rating:
I cannot believe this book was published by Wharton School Publishing. The main point could be delivered as a page of news clip, another page of index including link to the crowdsourcing websites being described. This book is just a list of websites, no in-depth analysis of crowdscourcing phenomena. This book is full of information about crowdsourcing websites, but no knowledge about crowdsourcing.

"We" is less informative - 2009-07-01
Reviewer Rating:
The experiment of writing the book was more interesting than the book itself. Here, dozens (hundreds?) of writers collaborated in the writing of the book.

The book was very short and even shorter whether the often irrelevant pictures are ignored. I was surprised at the repetition of stories and summaries in the book.

The collaborative writing means that the style is very bland and has no consistent voice.

a good book to read - 2009-02-26
Reviewer Rating:
I came across this book by accident while I was searching for something on google. Out of curiosity I just had a peek into the couple of pages that were available on google. It was then than I made a decision to buy this book.
As for the book I find it informative in the way that it has helped me understand to share information with strangers as well as a lot about collectiv thinking.I would say its certainly a good read.

Packs More Power Per Page Than Any Book I Ever Read... - 2008-06-30
Reviewer Rating:
I'm a long time automotive entrepreneur, now making my business online communities and specialized professional networks, and an old time Wharton School alumni, so when this book was announced I naturally had to buy and read it.

Wow! Though very simple to read and absorb in a very short amount of time, with some helpful and entertaining call outs and pictures, there is not one book I've read (on this topic or any other) that had more of an impact on getting a point across - that the power of crowds and mass collaboration, harnessed through the Internet, is truly changing business, and the world as we know it.

To me this is the best kind of book, short, entertaining yet so powerful you will want to reread it, and cite its facts, phrases and examples throughout your day. There is no way someone can read a book like this, knowing the background of its "authors" and the fact that it, itself was a product of mass collaboration, and not be influenced by its observations and conclusions. "We are smarter than Me" stimulates you to think and act, which is the best take away from any book in my opinion (right after I read it, I "crowd sourced" a particular tricky service in another city for my company, at a fraction of the cost it would have taken me using conventional methods...if I could have gotten the task done at all conventionally).

At the price, this little book is the best ROI on Amazon today.

John Possumato
Possumato.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johnpossumato

What crowdsourcing really means - 2008-02-29
Reviewer Rating:
This book is an example of its own subject. The byline reads, "Barry Libert & Jon Spector and Thousands of Contributors." The book, a product of crowdsourcing, reflects both the power and the problems of crowdsourcing. On one hand, it provides many examples of crowdsourcing in action from participants. Almost all of these sagas are success stories (even going so far as to make the reader wonder if some of the anonymous crowd members contributing could have been promoting the companies in the stories). The proliferation of examples demonstrates that crowdsourcing has made its mark in many business functions. On the other hand, the authors (the two writers, not the whole crowd) acknowledge that crowdsourcing has not worked for business management and strategy. Again, the book offers a parallel. The collective authorial voices contribute a lot of information, but they are less than successful in providing the book with a thematic flow, leaving it slightly choppy. However, as one crowdsourcing executive points out in the book, observers must take the bad with the good. Crowdsourcing certainly merits the attention of anyone in business, so getAbstract, all by itself, thinks that this concise, quick-to-read book should be on managers' reading lists.

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