The Power of Peer Production

Serendipity is a wonderful word for how most blogging gets done. You discover something unexpectedly, begin to make some mental connections, and then reflect on it by writing about your new find in the hopes that someone will find it interesting as well and add something to the conversation.

Last night, while preparing presentations, I discovered Esko Kilpi from Finland. What a great name. Check out his article in Nokia People titled The Power of Peer Production. Its a big .jpg file but at full screen it's readable.

Affiliation through personal choice:

"Peer production is the most efficient method for creating value from a resource allocation point of view. The system is developed bottom-up instead of top-down. Instead of forcing people into predetermined groups like groupware does, social software facilitates the natural formation of groups based on spontaneous, contextual needs for interaction. In other words people affiliate through personal choice and actions. Understanding this difference in community formation is crucial for building self-sustaining communities that span the organization or organization and may act as a breeding ground for innovations."

The only company that I know of that actually has been doing this for years is Gore. There have been many articles on the success of Gore and its unique corporate structure. You should google it.

Esko nails the power of wikis in the article and it is a great read.