The Wisdom Network helps us to discover and realize the power of the knowledge that exits within the organization. It shows how to maximize the value of the employee wisdom and motivate the company’s hidden experts to come out of the woodwork and collaborate with each other. It is a unique and powerful system that can transform the entire organization.

With the help of this book we can learn how to :

• Identify the people who share their expertise consistently and effectively.

• Create an environment conducive to wisdom sharing.

• Encourage boundary crossing and role breaking in pursuit of topics of interest.

• Use magnet topics to attract the experts, and then support ad hoc groups, teams, and communities that emerge around them.

• Create unconventional measures to evaluate and reward performance and track the network’s impact.

The value that a world-class network of experts brings to a company, be it a fledgling entrepreneurship or large global organization, may mean the difference between failure and sustainable prosperity. This book introduces the concept of using Wisdom Networks as a differentiating asset. The authors clearly describe how to identify, build, and use Wisdom Networks to fill competency gaps, to provide insight, flexibility, and adaptability to change, and ultimately to compete successfully in a rapidly evolving world economy.

— E. Scott Russell, Managing Director, Diamondhead Ventures

Whether by design or intuition, the authors of The Wisdom Network have incorporated cutting-edge theories of psychology into their book. They have captured and integrated the way human beings work naturally in groups into a model that will enhance and develop creativity, increase employee loyalty, decrease turnover, and ensure that corporations who use these concepts will become leaders in their fields.

— Jennifer A. Scanlon, M.Ed., LCPC, Psychotherapist

This book is outstanding! Provides a step-by-step guide to one of the most crucial challenges and opportunities businesses have—overcoming institutional inertia and silos to harness and focus the knowledge of their people. A must read for anyone interested in institutional growth and survival.

— Jean K. FitzSimon, Senior VP and General Counsel, Whitehall Jewellers, Inc.

As described in this book, effective wisdom networks can encourage talented specialists to interact broadly across functional boundaries to solve difficult problems, without special technology or high startup costs. The authors offer a way to move novel wisdom networks into mainstream management thinking, with a concise, step-wise approach that anticipates pitfalls and provides motivational hints. Directed at top executives, and written in a simple, accessible style, the book can be used throughout the organization to guide and inform network participants and leaders.

— Mark Eggleston, Director, Phillip Townsend Associates Inc.