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Habits Quote by Peter Lucas

“Open source is characteristically about herd behavior and local hill climbing. There is such a thing as the wisdom of crowds, but it is an inherently conservative wisdom. A crowd can tread a meandering cowpath into a highway. What it will never do, however, is decide to dig a tunnel through the…” quote by Peter Lucas
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““Open source is characteristically about herd behavior and local hill climbing. There is such a thing as the wisdom of crowds, but it is an inherently conservative wisdom. A crowd can tread a meandering cowpath into a highway. What it will never do, however, is decide to dig a tunnel through the mountain to shorten the path, or to leave the mountain altogether for a better one. THE””

Peter Lucas

About This Quote

Source Speech: Talk on Open Source, 2015

Open source tends to follow existing trends and incremental improvements rather than bold, disruptive innovations.

In simple terms: Open source follows the crowd, not daring leaps.

Key Takeaway

Encourage radical thinking beyond consensus.

Themes

innovation crowd dynamics risk conservatism open source

Mood

reflective critical inspirational

Type

analytical philosophical

When to use this quote

  • software development
  • technology strategy
  • product design
  • R&D planning

Key Concepts

wisdom of crowds incrementalism disruptive innovation

Questions to Reflect On

  • How can teams break free from incremental thinking?
  • What incentives foster daring innovation?
A Different Perspective

Crowd wisdom can stifle breakthrough ideas and limit transformative change.

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