What is "Wikinomics"?

In the last few years, traditional collaboration—in a meeting room, a conference call, even a convention center—has been superceded by collaborations on an astronomical scale.

Today, encyclopedias, jetliners, operating systems, mutual funds, and many other items are being created by teams numbering in the thousands or even millions. While some leaders fear the heaving growth of these massive online communities, Wikinomics explains how to prosper in a world where new communications technologies are democratizing the creation of value.

Wikinomics shows how the masses of people can participate in the economy like never before. They are creating TV news stories, sequencing the human genome, remixing their favorite music, designing software, finding a cure for disease, editing school texts, inventing new cosmetics, and even building motorcycles.

Millions of media buffs now use blogs, wikis, chat rooms, and personal broadcasting to add their voices to a vociferous stream of dialogue and debate called the “blogosphere.” Employees drive performance by collaborating with peers across organizational boundaries, creating what we call a “wiki workplace.” Customers become “prosumers” by co-creating goods and services rather than simply consuming the end product. Knowledge creation now happens in social networks, where people learn and teach each other. MASS COLLABORATION!

"No company today, no matter how large or how global, can innovate fast enough or big enough by itself. Collaboration – externally with consumers and customers, suppliers and business partners, and internally across business and organization boundaries – is critical. Wikinomics reveals the next historic step – the art and science of mass collaboration where companies open up to the world. It is an important book."

- A. G. Lafley, CEO, Procter & Gamble

   Robert Rudy   
   Paradox Advisors
   Strategy, Operations Improvement and Technology