Charles Leadbeater is one of Britain's leading creative thinkers - an authority on innovation and creativity, adviser to companies, cities and governments around the world on innovation strategy. He is the author of several best selling and acclaimed books. 

As part of Bristol’s 2008 Festival of Ideas Charles visited Watershed to discuss his book ‘We-think: the Power of Mass Creativity’, a result of a new way of writing, where readers contributed material via the author's website. It is the story of modern innovative participation, from Wikipedia, YouTube and Craigslist to new forms of scientific research and political campaigning.

In this live recording, Charles relates experiences that illuminate the themes of We-think and some of the ideas behind the Pro-Am Revolution, where amateurs become professionals.  He believes that people are no longer happy to be classified as merely workers or consumers – they need to be contributors  – and must be recognised as such by their peers.

He discusses the concept of the ideas economy - where ideas grow by being shared freely, and about the way that open source software has contributed toward this new ethic of sharing ideas. The way people live is increasingly shaped by this free sharing ethic and is one of the most pressing challenges facing today’s businesses and organisations who don’t know how to let go of knowledge and information.

Watch Charles elaborate further on his observations about culture today in this engaging talk.

Related Links:
Charles Leadbeater
Festival of Ideas

 

A Festival of Ideas event in partnership with Watershed.

Posted on Wed 14 May 2008.

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