ABSTRACT
Chapter 9 describes a few “epic fails” of crowdsourcing as learning opportunities and then identifies potential pitfalls and key insights gleaned from more and less successful forays into crowdsourcing. While it is not a guidebook into generic crowdsourcing and open innovation implementation (of which there are many), it describes essential design elements for planning and troubleshooting a crowdsource initiative. The focus is particularly from the perspective of social justice and sustainability. Only when this practical side of implementation planning and execution is handled well can the full potential of crowdsourcing be accessed.
This chapter alerts practitioners to the risks and issues most relevant to open innovation and crowdsourcing, focusing on those. It then outlines insights from implementation successes in the form of guidelines for designing, leading, and managing an open innovation initiative.
