Long criticized by some in my life for aggregating intelligence from friends and family in order to make decisions, I was interested in the concept that James Surowiecki uses in the Wisdom of Crowds – an idea that the swarm is intelligent, not the herd, but the swarm – like watching a school of fish make an immediate right turn or a flock of birds arrange itself in a chevron and fly south – on their own, the right decision would elude most.
On my own, I’ve made good and bad decisions. I have to say that in my job I’ve probably operated more solo than not in making decisions – using the force as it were – but in relationships, I’ve needed the wisdom of crowds to maneuver through friends who betray me, boys who confuse me, neighbors who rankle me, families (mine and my significant others) who make me insane. It’s this collective wisdom – the investigative journalist in me who takes polls, gathers intelligence, recalibrates expectations, and cogently sifts through the data to arrive at protocol and wisdom.
A couple of positive responses from recent encounters of the good kind (as opposed to the NG kind):
A source at the conference writes: “I think that you are a incredible human being who deserves the very best. I believe God put people in our path that can help us with the lesson we need to master before we move on.”
A colleague said: “…your face looks happier and younger than when I last saw you…”
An ex colleague said: “You should be very proud of yourself with what you have accomplished.”
An ex boss said: “Don’t close any doors.”
Two neighbors call right as I walk in the door at the LaLa: “What are you doing for dinner? Come eat.”