Is We Really Smarter than Me?

Hey, I'm a smart enough cookie, and because I'm so smart, I'm willing to accept that there are plenty of times and places where an individual "you" and a collective "we" might well be a lot smarter than me.

I don't, of course, accept this across the boards. Certainly, there have been plenty of elections in my lifetime that have disproved the wisdom of the collective . And I remember reading a poll a while back that showed that the majority of my fellow citizens believe in creationism rather than evolution. (I googled this to make sure I was remembering it right. I was. In a late-2004 poll, CBS News found that 55% of Americans believed that "God created humans in their present form." Note that this is NOT "God created evolution"; it's "He took 100 pounds of clay" creationism. But I digress.)

Given that part of my personal belief system is that "we" can, indeed, be smarter than "me," I read of the "We Is Smarter than Me" project with interest. For those unfamiliar with it, I'll let the smarter than me guys speak for themselves:

BE PART OF A PUBLISHING REVOLUTION
Be an author of the first networked book on business.  Together we will write the book on how the emergence of community and social networks will change the future rules of business.  Collaborate with authors from MIT, Wharton, and thousands of professionals from around the world. See your name in print when the book is published next fall by Pearson Publishing. 

I will admit that I haven't had a great deal of success with collective writing efforts since Sister Josephine of the Sacred Heart had us write a hideous joint essay freshman year in high school in which each row was responsible for a different sentence. One of the worst I ever saw was an expensive brochure for a company I once worked for that let each different product group write and design its own section. Still, I surrendered to the collective wisdom that says that the world of business (if not of literature and brochure-writing) is changing. It is no small point in the favor of the "we is smarter" folks that "we" have a book contract, while "me"....Well, not yet. And then there's the fact the authors won't make any money off of the book, while the "paid professionals" involved in it presumably will. (I told you "we" is probably smarter than "me.")

In any case, eager to collaborate with authors from MIT, including folks from the Center for Collective Intelligence who are from Sloan School, where I got my business degree (which I choose to interpret as some type of certificate of smartness), I signed up to participate in the writing of "the book."

Well, I signed on as an author in late November and, shame on me, I haven't been back over there authoring up brilliant ideas as part of the smart set. But shame on the "we are smarter" folks, too. Since signing up, I haven't received one communication from them. I would have expected at least a little "welcome on board" message that would encourage me to get my smart on and start authoring.

Well, I have a lot to do this week. But by the end of the month I'm going to smarten up and start writing about something. I hope I'm smart enough to throw something that matters into the collective book hopper. It will certainly be interesting to see the end product (which I'm guessing will be well and closely edited, and contain interesting nuggets from a whole slew of "me's").

But if we're so darn smart, wouldn't we have figured out that part of building community is sending a cheery little welcoming message over to the newcomer's house?