Book excerpt: The idea of soliciting input, whether from customers, associates or the general public, is hardly new. Yet crowdsourcing (the soliciting of collective wisdom) is a relatively new term which has quickly become an important business concept. The spike in the ability to crowdsource, driven by web technologies, has enabled the concept to assume center stage in business strategy. A strong ability to tap into the collective intelligence of the public, or a well-defined segment of the public, enables businesses to greatly expand the talent pool available at their disposal. Typically, crowdsourcing helps organizations complete tasks faster, more efficiently and often simply better. "Kiruba Shankar" and "Mitchell Levy" are both firm believers in the concept of collaborative wisdom. In their very diverse and singularly successful careers, crowdsourcing has helped them accomplish many tasks successfully while having fun along the way. Now they bring you "#CROWDSOURCING tweet Book01," in which they share with you smart ideas (crowdsourced, of course!) that teach you to tap into the wisdom of the crowd. Kiruba and Mitchell can convince the most vociferous skeptic. Here's a sample: "Doubt the value of crowdsourcing? Encyclopedia Britannica took 200 years to write 80,000 articles. Wikipedia: 9 years, 10 million+ articles." Through the book, their personal experiences and their ability to tap into the experiences of others comes clearly through. For example: "I crowdsourced the creation of my logo and got 95 logo concepts for $300. My graphics agency just lost a customer to crowdsourcing." And lest you start thinking of crowdsourcing as a silver bullet, here's a reality check: "Crowdsourcing is a democratic process. However, just like in any democracy, it needs leaders to hold the flag and lead." "#CROWDSOURCING tweet Book01" is "the" book on leveraging the experience of the crowd, brought to you by two experienced authors who are comfortable with walking their talk. Replete with bite-sized wisdom from start to finish, you will surely find yourself flipping through its pages time and again as you tap into the collective wisdom of your crowd. "#CROWDSOURCING tweet Book01" is part of the THiNKaha series whose 112-page books contain 140 well-thought-out quotes (tweets/ahas).