A story about returning the internet to its original premise: A place of collective intelligence from experts

An interview with Charles Thiede, Co-founder and CEO Zapnito, by Ton Dobbe, Chief Inspiration Officer, Value Inspiration
A story about returning the internet to its original premise: A place of collective intelligence from experts
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Every week, I interview entrepreneurs and experts from around the world to share their big idea about new forms of value creation and the potential we can unlock when technology augments people's unique strengths to deliver remarkable impact.

You can listen to the full interview here:

Solving the new challenges ahead of us
I got inspired by the big idea behind Zapnito; hence I invited CEO Charles Thiede to my podcast. We explore the growing challenge that the noise on the internet is just getting louder and louder. It's harder to have a voice. It's harder to create and share collective knowledge and intelligence. And it's harder to create trusted places. We discuss why it's crucial to bring that original premise of the internet back to solve the new challenges ahead of us, deliver remarkable value, and create sustainable advantage on the back of that.

The thing that triggered me most from my interview with Charles
The big idea was to help return the internet to its original premise, which was around collective intelligence from experts sharing with each other.

Why did this trigger me? What's the bigger value here?
Bringing together the collective intelligence of experts is about competitive advantage – for all participants. There's nobody that can outthink the internet. There will always be someone smarter. But together, we have power. The diversity of minds doesn't only have a broader set of experiences, but also a significant advantage in solving problems. The problem is: we don't utilize this optimally, we grow the echo-chamber risk, and we're underplaying a potentially substantial advantage – for ourselves, our company, and the eco-system around us.

How often do we use another team or department's brainpower to obtain a different perspective and create a breakthrough? Too little. And then I don't even think about bringing together the collective power of customers, suppliers, or other domain experts. Are we too proud to ask for help? Is it a technology thing? So, I question out loud: Why? What if we'd do that? I believe it's very much a mindset thing – but from my own experience, I can say: Embrace it, you won't believe the impact. I applaud Zapnito's pioneering mindset by spotting this opportunity in the market.

What's the more significant question/opportunity that raises?
If I think beyond the notion of creating a position of advantage, immediately a much larger challenge pops up: The workforce at large. In many countries around the world, more people are leaving the workplace than entering it. And as such, the war for talent will likely not shrink, but get bigger. This means scarcity, which means many organizations will be a disadvantage if they fail to win these scarce talents (let alone their salary requirements) to join them.

I question: How can we address this smarter by adequately using technology? I believe expert communities can be a piece of the giant puzzle. It's bringing together the domain-specific-experts we need in a world where the workforce is shrinking. It captures the knowledge of all the challenges we've solved together, and it brings together the right people to solve new challenges on our path – irrespective if these people are working for the same organization or not. That's powerful – and something worth exploring.

Listen to the big idea behind Zapnito and why it has the potential to create expert networks that promote thought leadership, increase revenue, and build engagement and trust.

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