The Wisdom of Crowds
Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations

by James Surowiecki

Summary

Why do we still feel compelled to get the advice of four of our best friends even if just one can answer the question? That's the premise at the heart of this highly engaging and interesting book, which centers around the idea that a crowd's wisdom can be more helpful than the knowledge of the smartest individual. Author James Surowiecki brings this theory to life with a large number of everyday, real-life examples centering around the space shuttle, traffic jams, the stock market, the SARS virus, and the events of 9/11.

Recommended Readers

This book will be helpful for those whose positions entail a high amount of problem solving, particularly those in advertising-related careers such as Marketing Managers, Advertising Account Executives and Brand Managers — all of whom must frequently think outside the box to devise creative solutions to client issues.

Top Takeaways

• We live in a society that generally accepts the word of experts and dismisses the wisdom that the masses have to offer.
• Groups, however, are very intelligent, and often smarter than the smartest one person in the group, given the right circumstances.
• Pitching a problem to a diverse group often results in a better solution than the word of a single expert because of the multiple concepts and ideas that the group can bring to the table.
• The circumstances in which a group can be more effective than an individual typically meet four basic conditions:
  • Diversity of opinion — bringing in different information
  • Independence of members from one another — keeping people from being swayed by a single opinion leader
  • Decentralization — where people's errors have the ability to balance each other out
  • A good method of aggregating opinions — including all opinions in the group guarantees that the results are “smarter” than if a single expert had been in charge.
• Indirectly highlights the importance of focus groups, surveys and other data collection methods that gather the thoughts and opinions of many.

About the Author

A resident of Brooklyn, New York, James Surowiecki is a staff writer at The New Yorker, where he writes “The Financial Page”, a business column. In addition, he has written for publications such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Artforum, Wired, and Slate.

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