The power of many

The coolest new book out there is "We Think: Mass Innovation Not Mass Production" by Charlie Leadbeater, a British consultant who's been working on the very cool topic of self-organization. I interviewed him a year ago for a cover story in the May 2006 issue of Ode.

He was summarizing the idea of the "new spirit of collaboration" this way:

"If you mix the philosophy of the sixties with Web 2.0 [a collective concept for an Internet in which cooperation and connections take centre stage], you'll get a highly collaborative culture with many new things emerging quickly. The reason why people are turning to these old, anti-institutional, anti-hierarchical ideas is that technology allows a decentralized way of working. It's not because they sound nice or because they're morally uplifting. It's because it's a practical way to accomplish complicated goals."

Over the last two years, while he was writing his book, Leadbeater put chapters on his website (www.wethinkthebook.net), and invited his readers to offer their suggestions for revisions and additions. He also created a wiki (wethink.wikia.com) with a glossary of terms for the book's themes.

Finally, his book just got published, and it's filled with great insights and examples.

And don't forget to buy the book here.