This is my favourite video on mass collaboration. Clay effortlessly digs into the theoretical concepts of social computing using practical examples that we can all relate too. He makes a strong argument for the superior benefits of building co-operation into the infrastructure compared to the traditional hierarchical institutional approach to collaboration. The old paradigm states "focus on the 20% effort and get 80% of the benefit". The new paradigm states, "Why would you leave behind 20% of benefit?"

Although this video was only released last month, the presentation was actually done in 2005 at TED. As you watch it, it may remind you Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams' Wikinomics book or of the work done by Ronald Coase who won a Nobel Prize in Economics (1991) on his work detailed in 1937, The Nature of the Firm. Enjoy...



(link to original TED video)