Exponential Organizations: Community and Crowd
In my first article on Exponential Organizations (ExO), I introduced Salim Ismail’s book of the same name. In his book, Salim highlights 11 attributes of an ExO.
In my next article I examined Massive Transformative Purpose (MTP) and staffing-on-demand.
Now let’s look at the next attribute of an Exponential Organization: Community & Crowd.
While staff-on-demand is expertise that you need to find, hire, and manage, community and crowd-sourced resources come to you.
How does this work?
Typically, crowd-sourced talent is comprised of fans. Does your MTP inspire a community, a crowd that will provide value to your organization for free or for a minimal investment?
In his book Salim Ismail illustrates this phenomenon using DIY Drones. Founder Chris Anderson tapped into a large group of passionate drone enthusiasts who contribute their time and expertise to design unmanned aerial vehicles. In this model, Chris organizes and leads the volunteer efforts, but isn’t doing the work required.
The site is now the world’s largest open robotics development community. And that led to the creation of the 3DR company. Their MTP? Help people see their world from above.
Another on-line example is Wikipedia, whose MTP is to “compile the sum of all human knowledge.” When founded in 2001, it seemed ridiculous that people would voluntarily spend their time building up the free resource site.
But it worked. For years, a community has built a current, accurate knowledge portal covering everything from ancient history to popular entertainment. Wikipedia, a non-profit organization, may not seem relevant to your organization.
Retail
But the toy business is definitely not non-profit.
My favorite crowd-source example comes from Lego. Lego’s MTP: inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow. Enthusiasts create their designs and submit them on Lego’s idea site. Then other Lego fans vote for their favorite creations. Models with the most votes can move to production, and the creator receives a royalty on net revenue for that product.
Not a toy fan? For creative types, companies like Printed Village have monthly themed competitions for designs. These designs are available on scarves and other clothing items. Potential buyers choose winning designs. And, designers are rewarded with a percentage of revenue. This business model attracted Marcus Lemonis (The Profit) to purchase the Printed Village in 2016. Their vision? Printed Village is launching independent artists into the world of retail.
Software
Of course, open source programming projects like Linux, Spybot (a free malware program), Inkscape (free vector-based, Adobe Illustrator like product) and Avast (free virus software) have been around for awhile. All are examples of enthusiastic communities that offer their services freely for the creation and improvement of software.
Most open source products are then available for anyone to install and use for free. In some cases, open-source products solicit donations. In other instances, base products are free — enhancements require purchase.
Usually there is money to be made in consulting to bring open source products into mainstream enterprises where support and customization are critical.
And more recently, the vision of a secure, transparent currency system — minus the central authority of a bank — has ignited a critical mass in cryptocurrency systems like Bitcoin. Bitcoin crowd-sources all processing required to generate a financial ledger and the associated cryptography. A “bank” with no computer systems to purchase, maintain or keep secure. Zero infrastructure. No cost. Brilliant!
Medical
What if we could harness the masses towards health and medical causes? CrowdMed has done just that. The company aims to speed-up and lower the cost of diagnosing rare medical conditions by crowdsourcing and applying prediction market technology to medical data.
And, Johnson & Johnson Innovation Labs seek to create a world without disease by accelerating science and delivering novel solutions to prevent, intercept and cure diseases. Through their QuickFire challenges, they target specific problems. From revamping Finland’s “Baby Box” to solving epidemic levels of obesity and diabetes, Johnson & Johnson spans the globe for new ways to solve old problems.
Funding
And what better way to test a new product idea than to put it out for crowdfunding? Crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo have enabled individuals to access to capital in ways that couldn’t be imagined in the past.
In Salim’s book example, Gustin, a premium designer jeans company, uses crowdfunding for all its products. When customers back specific designs, only then will products get created and shipped, eliminating product risk and inventory costs while supporting production costs.
Data Science and Marketing
Need a data scientist? An online data science platform, Kaggle, offers companies and individuals the opportunity to post problems with incentives and prizes for solutions. This platform provides value for both data scientists who want to exercise their skills and for companies to solve business problems!
For crowd-sourcing innovation and marketing, many sites are available: IdeaScale, eYeka, Spigit, InnoCentive, SolutionXchange, Crowdtap, and Brightidea. And sites to measure your success at engagement include UserVoice, Unbounce and Google AdWords.
Imagine the benefits of adding hundreds or thousands of new minds to solving your company’s problems!
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