Crowdsourcing, creativity and feeling good

Who participates in crowdsourcing activities? What can you expect when you launch a crowdsourcing based competition?
These are questions which normally lead to keywords such as everyone can participate, social thinking, better ideas, more ideas, innovative ideas. But is this really the case? And does this apply always and in all aspects?

Today I come across this article and I think it is worth to read it:
(“Crowdsourcing…)
What does this mean for you? It means you need to think about the true purpose of any crowd-based (whether internal or public) suggestion scheme or idea collection system. Do you wish to get high levels of participation and lots of ideas which focus on incremental improvements? Do you wish to encourage dialogue and participation among large groups of people — with little actual interest in creative ideas? Do you wish to give many people the opportunity to feel good about being creative? Or, do you wish to generate some highly creative ideas that you hope to implement?

Believe it or not, all of these options are perfectly legitimate reasons to collect ideas from groups of people. This is an important truth: very often, idea collection systems are really not at all about innovation. Rather they are about participation and feeling good. However, if you aim to collect truly creative ideas; ideas that have the potential to become breakthrough innovations; ideas that could knock people’s socks off, then you really do not want the crowd. Rather, you want the oddballs, weirdos and rebels who at best stay clear of the crowds and at worst provoke them.”

Somehow, there are some true elements in these words, aren’t there?

Full article
Going Against the Crowd
http://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2013/07/06/going-against-the-crowd/