Mindsharing: The Art of Crowdsourcing Everything

Zoref strikes an ideal tone for 2015's social era, offering new ways to make decisions and problem solve. Mindsharing—similar in many ways to crowdsourcing—involves bringing an idea or question to a group and using their collective wisdom to reach a sound conclusion. The process utilizes social technologies to think with a big crowd (the author recommends at least 250 people). A consultant and former Microsoft employee, Zoref studied the topic for his PhD. The format flows well, with the opening offering an introduction to the concept and a review of common mindsharing platforms (Quora, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc). The rest of the book explores the subject in one's career and personal life. Anecdotes and examples from both the author and others are plentiful, as are platforms to try. The book is unique in that many of the stories Zoref includes—such as his business card design and new car purchase—were originally suggested by someone else—mindsharing at work. In giving advice, the author also admits previous shortcomings. Not everyone wants to mindshare. But he provides people the tools to do so.