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Oct 11, 2007

"If we want to make the imagination feel at home, generosity shows us the way. How else can imagination thrive but in a place where welcoming comes first and where judgment feels no need to speak and finally feels no need to be?" --Sarah Wider

Why Sharing Makes Sense

MIT Professor Eric von Hippel, with his book "Democratizing Innovation," has dramatically shifted the insularity of "innovation" and brought it to the realms of every user. In this interview, von Hippel shares his concepts around lead user and free revealing. He talks of "users of products and services –- both firms and individual consumers," innovating and developing the exact product that they want and then freely sharing the information, sharply contrasting this democratic process from the hitherto closed door world of manufacturing. Von Hippel describes everyday users being at the leading edges of important trends, experiencing needs today that the bulk of the market will experience tomorrow, and explores why it may be better to freely reveal one's best ideas rather than keep them secret.