It’s easy to decouple the producer from the good and services that they produce. But, in our modern times, it is also easy to add transparency to production and change the way we think about the people who make and implement the stuff that we use.
Crowdsourcing takes this decoupling to the extreme. A couple of years ago it seemed that some thought crowdsourcing, the process of outsourcing work to a community was supposed to be the answer to all the worlds’ problems. In a world where people just want to get stuff done, crowdsourcing provides easy answers. Entire companies like Innocentive and Innovation Exchange seek to anonymize production of business strategies and science. A full spectrum of crowdsourcing has emerged. Firms outsource everything from bit tasks to full-on innovation programs. Some of these enterprises reward individuals for creativity, others don’t. Small firms specialize solely on consulting regarding crowdsourcing strategies.
People talked about this wave of web-based crowdsourcing like it was brand new, but there is a long tradition of doling out work to a larger community. My favorite historical example is that of alcohol bootlegging processes during prohibition. Bootleggers used to pay families to participate in bit parts of alcohol production, thereby mitigating some of the legal risks associated with a centralized illegal operation.
Crowdsourcing tends to emphasize the anonymity of production. Managers think, “Anyone can do the work, right?” This approach is at once powerful and limiting. For more menial tasks, it allows businesses to have Bob23490 do the work, without needing to have any deep relationship with Bob23940. That can be a good thing or a bad thing.
But what about outsourcing to a community where the individual is valued as an individual? The mental and technological tools that make crowdsourcing a reality can also make distributed production possible or better.
Golden Hook is a customized hat company. Golden Hook’s hats are made by French grandmothers. You pick your hat template, pick your colors and size, and then you pick your French Grandma of choice. The presentation is whimsical. This isn’t a pity party. This is a high-end hat produced by craftswomen. Perhaps Golden Hook is a co-op. But this seems different than most co-ops that I have encountered.
The mode of production is an impetus to purchase. The fact that production isn’t anonymous, like it is with most hats, provides the buyer with a sense of authenticity and perhaps a sense of social responsibility. Manufacture is outsourced — and this is celebrated and marketed.
Is it possible for larger firms to look at the advantages of crowdsourcing — distributed production, low risk, and low-cost — and think about ways to forge mutually beneficial relationships with external partners? I think there are plenty of opportunities outside the world of French hats.
In an increasingly digital world, its no wonder that some are clamoring for authenticity like never before. Ziba Design has turned authenticity into a mantra, working with brands to reach their authentic potential. So to have the makers of the Heat Surge, who apparently leverage the authentic skills of Amish craftsmen for the production of their electric heater mantles.
Some companies necessarily distribute large parts of their work to third parties. I once consulted for a very large technology firm that relies on resellers to get their product into the hands of small businesses.
It wasn’t in the original design brief, but I ended up working with this company to rethink their relationship with their resellers. Resellers had been anonymized and they were getting frustrated. This company’s processes didn’t leave the resellers feeling like they were valued. This firm was anonymizing producers and in the process marginalizing them.
I got them to evolve their thinking — to start thinking about ways to celebrate individuals and reward good performers. Part of the innovation was in thinking about how to connect the right customers with the right partners. The fruits of this labor are starting to show now.
What if more companies took a lesson from Golden Hook? What if companies like it treated their resellers as symbiotic partners rather than anonymous pipelines?
It’s an interesting thought exercise to think about where the Golden Hook approach can go. Are there new ways for people to monetize their hobbies? Is this a solution to our economic woes? Maybe it is.
