February 2, 2015
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. Agent: Doug Abrams, Idea Architects.
February 15, 2015
Welcome to the virtual village, where the right answers are no farther away than your keyboard.Do too many cooks really spoil the broth? Not necessarily, claims former Microsoft marketing and online services guru Zoref in this informative look at the way crowds can help us make better, smarter decisions. You'll get better results, writes the author, if you ask lots of people for advice, because groups can actually provide more accurate answers than the experts. Many readers will have encountered this topic and argument before, and Zoref readily refers to landmark studies such as Mark Granovetter's 1973 paper on the strength of less intimate relationships, or "weak ties." We've long recognized that a diverse group of acquaintances may be able to create a better solution to a problem than our more biased friends and families. But never before have we had ready access to such a huge number of acquaintances as we do now in the era of social media. Zoref explores how technology expands, accelerates and simplifies the process of taking a question to the people. The author writes in a friendly, conversational style and reassuringly confesses the insecurities he faced on the way to becoming an international speaker on crowd wisdom. The humorous story of how, and why, he dared to lead an ox onto the TED stage, and similar tales, makes his surprising successes with crowd wisdom all the more believable. Zoref knows the research and makes useful reference to it throughout the book, but he doesn't pretend to be offering a survey of group psychology. Instead, he gets down to practical matters, like how readers can harness the power of the crowd by frequently updating their LinkedIn profiles and knowing what not to ask their Facebook friends. Zoref makes a convincing case for crowdsourcing everything from careers to romance.
March 1, 2015
Zoref strikes an ideal tone for 2015's social era, offering new ways to make decisions and problem solve. Mindsharing--similar in many ways to crowdsourcing--involves bringing an idea or question to a group and using their collective wisdom to reach a sound conclusion. The process utilizes social technologies to think with a big crowd (the author recommends at least 250 people). A consultant and former Microsoft employee, Zoref studied the topic for his PhD. The format flows well, with the opening offering an introduction to the concept and a review of common mindsharing platforms (Quora, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc). The rest of the book explores the subject in one's career and personal life. Anecdotes and examples from both the author and others are plentiful, as are platforms to try. The book is unique in that many of the stories Zoref includes--such as his business card design and new car purchase--were originally suggested by someone else--mindsharing at work. In giving advice, the author also admits previous shortcomings. Not everyone wants to mindshare. But he provides people the tools to do so. VERDICT For those already comfortable with social media who wish to use it more powerfully, or those who wish to learn about the subject.--Leigh Mihlrad, FDIC Lib., Washington, DC
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