CollaborativEye

In my last post I proposed that a core assumption of Web 2.0 / Collaboration 2.0 / Enterprise 2.0 is that emergence through a "collective intelligence" is more efficient and effective at structuring information than command-and-control mechanisms. This is a far reaching claim that shouldn't be taken uncritically. This post will serve as a very simple introduction to collective intelligence. Various definitions and perspectives on collective intelligence abound, but at its simplest level it is "two heads are better than one" (very profound, I know). Some take a more mystical/evolutionary consciousness perspective (see What is Enlightenment?), whereas MIT believes it can be studied and researched as any other social science: see the Center for Collective Intelligence. And of course there are those who believe it is just a bunch of hog wash.  There is the concept of "swarm intelligence" such as that found in ant colonies, bee hives, and economic market forces such as Adam Smith's "invisible hand" which exhibit collective intelligence.There is some technical literature on the subject as it applies to groups: see for example COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE QUANTIFIED FOR COMPUTER-MEDIATED GROUP PROBLEM SOLVING. However, from what I've found, most of the research deals with very controlled, formal problem solving, not chaotic real-world business scenarios. And of course there are anecdotal stories such as Wikipedia and Linux which are held up as examples of self-guided, emergent innovation and intelligence. 

But...we all know from experience that groups sometimes exhibit very intelligent behavior, with results that are more effective than any individual could achieve on their own, and we also know that groups can do some very stupid things. Under which conditions does collective intelligence develop, and conversely why do some groups exhibit "collective stupidity"? Are there certain types of business scenarios where group intelligence is to be preferred over individual performance, and vice-versa? And what is the impact on leadership? What does it mean to be a leader in the midst of collective intelligence? We'll examine these issues in future posts. In the meantime, here is a great quote from Karl Von Frisch (as quoted in Managing Collective Intelligence by Olivier Zara): "The ant is a collectively intelligent and individually stupid animal; man is the opposite.”