Rise of Amateur Professional
In this deceptively casual talk, Charles Leadbeater weaves a tight argument that innovation isn’t just for professionals anymore. Passionate amateurs, using new tools, are creating products and paradigms that companies can’t. He describes the rising role of serious amateurs (“Pro-Ams,” as he calls them) through the story of the mountain bike.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4843106241189033127
About Charles Leadbeater:
A researcher at the London think tank Demos, Charles Leadbeater was early to notice the rise of “amateur innovation” — great ideas from outside the traditional walls, from people who suddenly have the tools to collaborate, innovate and make their expertise known.
Charles Leadbeater’s theories on innovation have compelled some of the world’s largest organizations to rethink their strategies. A financial journalist turned innovation consultant (for clients ranging from the British government to Microsoft), Leadbeater noticed the rise of “pro-ams” — passionate amateurs who act like professionals, making breakthrough discoveries in many fields, from software to astronomy to kite-surfing. His 2004 essay “The Pro-Am Revolution” — which The New York Times called one of the year’s biggest global ideas — highlighted the rise of this new breed of amateur.
Prominent examples range from the mountain bike to the open-source operating system Linux, from Wikipedia to the Jubilee 2000 campaign, which helped persuade Western nations to cancel more than $30 billion in third-world debt. In his upcoming book, We-Think, Leadbeater explores how this emerging culture of mass creativity and participation could reshape companies and governments. A business reporter by training, he was previously an editor for the Financial Times, and later, The Independent (where, with Helen Fielding, he developed the “Bridget Jones’ Diary” column).
Tags: Breakthrough, Business, Business, Charles Leadbeater, Financial Times, Global Ideas, Helen Fielding, Innovation, Kite Surfing, Open Source Operating System, Paradigms, Passionate Amateurs, Third World Debt, Traditional Walls, WikipediaIf you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
