WeAreSmarterThanMe.org
Traditionally, associations had a competitive advantage over commercial publishers because they represent both the content experts (authors) and the buyers (members). Plus, association publications could be road-tested and peer-reviewed, representing best practices if not the industry standard.
If that's your niche, hold on to your hat.
In case you missed the story in the Wall Street Journal Online edition earlier this week, London-based publisher Pearson is teaming up with Wharton and MIT's Sloan School to create a business book authored and edited by a "wiki" online community. More than 1,000 have already signed up.
The book will be called We Are Smarter Than Me. "One goal of the WeAreSmarter project," the online WSJ reports, "is to see how a wiki can organize and balance material provided by experts such as consultants and professors and managers who are using the techniques in their own business."
Like the nonprofit online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, this effort distills the wisdom of many, scrubbing out personal opinion through community-enforced rules.
Fans of James Surowiecki's 2004 best seller, The Wisdom of Crowds, will recognize the shift from forecasting to best practice.
Are you harnessing the wisdom of many to revolutionize your publication program?
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Comments
Too funny...just used this last week as an example in a presentation.
I agree, it's a great example of the power of wiki's. Although, one issue I must point out is that this can cause a problem for the reader. The mixed voice (because of so many author's) can be an issue, as many have argued thus far. It will vary on the subject matter, but in most cases I have to agree this will indeed taint the intended tone of the book.
I will have to say this, the wiki wysiwyg interface - shared insights used in this project is far more intuitive than mediawiki
Posted by: Zachary Wilson | November 21, 2006 4:25 PM