Mindsharing: The Art of Crowdsourcing Everything

At least on the evidence of this business manual, crowd wisdom researcher Zoref is pure enthusiasm; it’s not hard to see how he’s made a career out of fostering connections. He recounts his own story: after leaving his position as Microsoft marketing v-p, he put the question to Facebook: what should I do next? The response he got was startling in its consensus—that he should focus on his talent for “mindsharing.” As he cautions, people tend to admire individual achievement to the point of expecting all great innovation to come from individuals working alone; he believes that our social and professional circles, taken cumulatively, are as smart as any professional adviser, and free of the emotion and bias that can cloud our own decisions. Zoref provides a wealth of advice for all comers, even those with small circles. He covers the uses of social media, advising readers to take advantage of all the crowdsourced info now available, like Glassdoor for salaries and Fiverr for small tasks. Beyond career and financial decisions, Zoref also asserts that mindsourcing can help readers find love, parenting help, and healthy choices. Likely to be attractive to both the already converted and the skeptical, this book provides an unlikely but inspiring rallying cry: “We are stronger than me.” Illus. [em]Agent: Doug Abrams, Idea Architects. (Apr.) [/em]