My definition of crowdsourcing is opening up the design of anything new to public input. Often the result is a better, faster and less expensive than when the traditional approach — a small, hand-picked team of domain “experts” — is used to accomplish the task.

As is often the case, those defending the traditional design and development approach complain that opening up the process to the masses will cause loss of wages and market chaos. Such is often the talk when a more efficient and creative way of getting things done (a business shortcut) comes into play.

If you have your doubts, read the book Wikinomics by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams. It will convince you that being open to collaboration is key to maintaining competitive advantage in our evolving economy.