Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd Is Driving the Future of Business

- Extrinsic - The Carrot (Financial Reward) and The Stick (A scolding from your boss)

- They are donating their leisure hours to the cause.

People are driven to contribute for a complex web of motivations, including a desire to create something from which the larger community would benefit as well as the sheer joy of practicing a craft at which they excel. People are inspired to contribute to crowdsourcing endeavors for similar motivations, though financial incentives also play a role,... See more

- Intrinsic - goals such as creative fulfillment, a belief in the project, the sense of community obligation, the opportunity to enhance one's reputation in the community.

Attracting a crowd is much easier than keeping them. The most important component to a successful crowdsourcing effort is a vibrant, committed community and understanding what motivates people to contribute in the first place. People ned to feel rewarded for their efforts.

- Participants are not primarily motivated by Money

People will work late into the night on one creative endeavor or another in the hope that their community - be it fellow designers, scientists, or computer hackers - acknowledge their contribution in the form of kudos and, just maybe, some measure of fame.

Labor can often be organized more efficiently in the context of community than it can in the context of a corporation.

Von Hippel (Head of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Group at MIT's Sloan School of Management) demonstrated that in fields as wide ranging as scientific instruments and mountain bikes and computer chips, the task of innovation was passing from the manufacturer to the user, who has both a greater need and a greater ability to improve a product's... See more