From Cloud Computing to Cloudsourcing (business models)

I don't have a lot of time this morning to write so I'm just jotting this down for later... I'm thinking of taking the base concept of cloud computing and trying to figure out if it can easily be applied to actual business modeling (poke holes in the idea). Using the internet as the cloud, replace the businesses referenced in this image with actual individual knowledge workers. The power of this type of crowdsourcing is much stronger as a group.

Image created by Sam Johnston using OminGroup's OmniGraffle and Inkscape (includes Computer.svg by Sasa Stefanovic)

Job Seekers Take Notice

As I've referenced in my earlier posts, I'm quite fascinated with the changes currently underway in the area of knowledge and expertise and how that works with all the hiring cutbacks and layoffs that are taking place. For those who are unemployed it is a frightening time to not know when the economy is going to be back on it's feet enough so that the unemployment rate begins to head down as opposed to it's currenty trajectory.

In addition to throwing your name in the pool for those few coveted jobs that are out there, I think it would be wise for all those incredibly smart folks to identify new ways to find work. Using the current trends in social networking and crowdsourcing, I envision the transformation from traditional employment to untraditional organizations in which folks with different skills and expertise create their own business model and market themselves to employers who cannot hire full time right now, but still need that work and support and thus, are much more comfortable hiring a consulting team. Create a virtual marketplace and business for your new team and make it as easy as possible for organizations to hire you. Find people with similar credentials (or better) to yours and get a simple web storefront up and running. That doesn't take long at all and you can get someone to build out your website for you rather inexpensively (don't be cheap though, or you'll definitely get exactly what you pay for).

The advantages to potential clients include:
1. less risk associated with hiring consultants vs. full time employees (in many cases, job postings are completely off limits right now).
2. top notch talent with all the skills & credentials necessary, if not more, to do the work in question.
3. less expensive than hiring one of the huge consulting firms.
4. ability to create a virtual team that perfectly matches all the needs of the organization. In this case, you will need to ask the client what they need, if you don't have all the pieces or skills they're looking for, go find someone who does and add them to your team.
5. in many cases, larger organizations are so complex that finding easy solutions is difficult to navigate. By hiring a small consulting team to specifically meet the needs of the business, that team is unencumbered by internal politics and can swiftly help resolve issues for their client that may be too challenging to resolve internally.

Find creative ways to make your business offering unique and be flexible enough for your client to exactly match their needs. Adjust your business and positioning as your client(s) adjust and you just may find yourself in an incredibly fruitful relationship for both you and your clients.

Here's a list of additional articles I'm collecting for reference:
When Job Seekers Invade Facebook - McKinsey Quarterly
The New Economics of Outsourcing - BusinessWeek
Innovation is Happening - Can You Recognize it? - Silicon Angle blog
Will Agencies Suffer Death by 1000 Cuts Through Crowdsourcing - John Winsor's blog

The Future of the Knowledge Worker Economy

So here's something that's been floating around in my head for the past few days. What if we didn't work for a company or a business any more? What if the vast majority of people were independent knowledge workers (Centers of Excellence) and our knowledge was tapped into by any organization that needed our specific expertise at that time?

I know what you're thinking -- that's not anything new, that's a consultant. But I'm taking it a bit further than that. What if we were all our own business (consulting firms just jack up our hourly rates, anyway) and we marketed and managed ourselves in order to provide service to a wide spectrum of businesses and industries as they needed it. Within this complex business ecosystem, COE's would seamlessly travel and provide value to those who need it. Sometimes that could include a number of assignments at once; other times it could be a solo assignment that lasts indefinitely.

Sounds like a cluster, right. But I actually think that as things evolve, the cluster could get alot easier to navigate and manage and it might help people find roles that are incredibly fulfilling to them without being tied to that role for an extended period of time. Obviously this idea isn't for everyone, but this transition is already taking place to a certain extent as a result of the recession. More and more people are turning into consultants these days - the key is finding the exact organization that needs your knowledge.

The other great thing this enables is the ability for people to pick and choose assignments - some which are paying and some that could potentially be more philanthropic or more risky. It's kind of like an agency that takes on some business that is intended to bring in the revenue and some business that is more a labor of love or a labor of publicity. So a Gen Y'er could find herself doing work to make money for a certain period of time and then find herself working for her favorite cause for a period of time. That favorite cause could also give her the chance to broaden their skillset.

I'll be working more on this idea in the future. I feel there's something to it; but it's definitely pretty rough right now.

PS - if you're interested in reading more about knowledge workers go straight to the source - Drucker, Peter F.. Management Challenges of the 21st Century. New York: Harper Business, 1999