Group Rethink By Michael Fitzgerald (MIT Technology Review, June 2005) delves into the the concept of collective intelligence. Technology has vastly increased the breadth and depth of group communication, enabling innovative group approaches to problem solving. For example, BP created an internal futures market to find ways to reduce its emissions, instead of the more traditional "committee of experts" approach.

Another example is Howard Dean's use of the Internet during the 2004 presidential campaign. In The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, Democracy, the Internet, and the Overthrow of Everything, Joe Trippi 'argues that in 2004, the Internet was to the presidential election what television was in 1956--something present in 75 percent of homes but not truly understood by most politicians and political operatives. But by 2008, Trippi says, the Internet will be at the heart of the political process.'

Fitzgerald references a number of current books to make its point, including one of my very favorites, The Future of Work: How the New Order of Business Will Shape Your Organization, Your Management Style, and Your Life, by Tom Malone. I like Fitzgerld's highlight from the book, which I've blogged in the past, so please forgive me for quoting someone who's quoting someone:

'Malone says such markets, combined with blogs and other technologies that make it easier for employees to share information, will enable, for the first time in business history, "the economic benefits of large organizations, like economies of scale and knowledge, without giving up the human benefits of small ones, like freedom, creativity, motivation, and flexibility." He is convinced that companies like Google, which uses internal blogs to keep management ranks flat, represent the future of industry. Tomorrow's companies, he predicts, will be led not by dictatorial, alpha-ego CEOs but by "cultivators" who understand that productivity and profits soar when all of a company's intellectual capital is being tapped.'

1:30:29 PM    
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