Crowdsourcing
Definition
Crowdsourcing is the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people and especially from the online community rather than from traditional employees or suppliers.
Description
There are many methods of accessing the knowledge that exists in a crowd (the Wikipedia article listed in the references below provides a good list of methods and examples), but three main criteria must be present and considered to help ensure the success of the endeavour: diversity, independence, and decentralization.
Diversity in this case means not just the usually understood meaning of different cultures, genders, etc. but also a diversity of backgrounds, experiences, age, education, anything that can create a difference.
The enemy of diversity is homogeneity (sameness/similarity) which leads to the illusion of invulnerability and a willingness to rationalize away opposing arguments, this in turn leads to a high likelihood of failure. It is looking at a problem from as many angles as possible that results in the best outcomes.
Independence is about keeping information sources separate so that one source for data/information/knowledge doesn't influence other sources.
Decentralization means ensuring that the decision-making process is not hierarchical, and is based on local and specific knowledge. Self-organizing, decentralized systems/networks are robust and adaptable, allowing connection and coordination without the command and control found in hierarchical systems. The closer a person is to the problem, the more likely he/she is to possess the knowledge for a good solution.
Limiting the size of the crowd has to be done by the use of judgement. How many people are enough to provide a reasonable amount of input to find a solution to the problem that is posed? Using the above criteria can help to ensure that even a small "crowd" provides useful feedback/input. It ultimately will come down to how much time you have and what resources are available.
