At the MIT Center of Collective Intelligence, professors and graduate students are wrestling with an important opportunity – and gaining ground. With new collaborative 
tools available for use in the cloud, people are no longer isolated in their creative endeavors. Some label this “crowdsourcing,” a term used to describe one form of this new empowerment.
How to use the new tools for collective intelligence
How do you use the new tools for collaboration to enable people and computers to be connected so that collectively they act more intelligently than any individual? MIT has come a long way in identifying tools and techniques.
Help from your peers
You can do the same. First, realize that no individual in your organization, including yourself, is as effective alone as with collaborative help from peers. Then find ways to build concepts, plans, documents, and actions through the collective collaboration of your key group. Explore and implement one of the many collaborative environments available through cloud computing, products from Microsoft, Google, IBM, and others.
How to test the system
[Email readers, continue here…] It is easy to test the system. Create a document with your basic plan or idea for action. Post the document using one of these common tools and invite members of your group to add to or comment upon this beginning effort. Respond and build upon the result. You will note that within a short time, you will have created a plan or document usually far better than if you had worked alone. And the added benefit is that the group will feel ownership in the result, a powerful step toward a successful outcome.
