Whether it is called crowdsourcing or wikis or social networking, there is a wealth of collaborative experience and expertise available online to help improve decision making, increase profitability, drive product innovation and expand into new markets.

Authors Barry Libert and Jon Spector have collated the contributions of hundreds of collaborators into an easy-to-read, information-filled guide book, We Are Smarter Than Me, to help entrepreneurs as well as those in established businesses harness the collaborative possibilities on the Web. The guide book includes case studies from well-established firms in addition to highlighting newly emerging collaborative possibilities. The authors include many helpful "what to do" suggestions to allow mass collaborative efforts to work for all types of busines-related situations.

The authors provide numerous examples of how mass collaboration can help raise capital for start-ups, provide wide-ranging but low-cost expertise, solicit customer input on product design features prior to production, and form communities of customer support for products already purchased. Lots of graphics and bulleted sections make the guide quite user-friendly.

We Are Smarter is already at work on its second collaborative volume, this one dealing with mass collaborative efforts to increase and enhance marketing and sales efforts. Contributions are currently being solicited, so you can still be part of the WE.