By and large, business values the opinions of experts. However, marketing and advertising companies, as we see, are not so keen on them, judging by the latest failed forecasts and expert opinions regarding blockchain (blockchain), GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and the death of Facebook. Time after time, experts miss from long range. Expert opinion inherently carries some risk. Those we call “subject matter experts” tend to think alike, and their views are often similar. In groups there is a tendency to make decisions under the influence of authority and stereotypes, and then it is very difficult to express a different opinion or find an alternative approach. We tend to trust our experience and support the approach that is most familiar to us or has produced positive results in the past. In his book The Wisdom of Crowds, James Surowiejski argues that“in the right circumstances, groups are extraordinarily intelligent, and often smarter than the smartest member of that group.”Surowiejski goes on to propose a seemingly simple idea: large groups of people are smarter than a select elite, and they are naturally better at solving problems, fostering innovation, making wise decisions, and predicting the course of events. This collective wisdom, born from the ideas of a group with different opinions, has proven useful in solving problems of various kinds. In marketing, it helps overcome coordination problems: how do we work together, that is, how do, say, teams interact in a company, how do we work with agencies or even with consumers? Collaboration problems can also be addressed: how do you attract truly committed people, the kind of people who feel the need to prove that their way of working is key to success, and who won't passively support the ideas of others? To solve these problems, a person needs to consider not only what seems obvious to him, but also the opinions of others. By nature, we tend to stick to our own recommendations and consider them to be the most accurate and authoritative. However, perhaps it would be better to confront your ego in its belief that “I am right” and look for the idea that will allow you to “reap the greatest harvest.” A search for diverse opinions is carried out in order to obtain a more accurate result. It can be helpful for a leader to develop the habit of encouraging others to share their vision. For example, if they ask about your opinion, it is better to answer like this: “I don’t know for sure. What do you think? This approach will highlight more options to consider and will also provide confidence that many options have been explored resulting in the right decision for the company. To gain maximum benefit from the wisdom of the collective, marketing and advertising teams must evaluate the decision-making process by analyzing third-party data. We need to cultivate a corporate culture that puts input and proactive work at the forefront, independent of the influence of politics. This data is the key to building trust within the team and to successful idea generation, so that the wisdom of the team brings maximum benefit. This way, you can impartially identify the most productive tactics, as well as those that may interfere with achieving your goals. At the same time, those responsible for complex marketing tasks may question the convenience of “proven” wisdom. Ideas like these become compelling as we navigate the daily challenges of our more volatile and complex marketplace than ever before. However, the opinion of a devil's advocate or other independent party may be valuable. Moreover, in the end, it is the traditional approach that may turn out to be the right solution, but an alternative vision will be useful in the process of generating the combined wisdom of the team. A team leader's ability to create an environment where diverse opinions are expressed without regard for other team members is key to success. To start talking about making the right decision, you need to collect all the possible options. It is natural that not all ideas will be good. However, we can defer discussion of the merits of each approach until later. Even if it seems ineffective, research has shown that this process helps the team reach agreement faster and with a better solution than if everyone relied only on the smartest member of the team. The original article was published in electronic versionBizBash
