Should you back the lone genius or trust the wisdom of the crowd? 

An online strategy tournament sheds light on which direction to take if you want to gain a competitive edge. Mark Chussil, who created the ongoing experiment, explains his findings.

Should your company adopt a competitive strategy proposed by a passionate, unconventional, lonely genius? The lonely genius might blaze a trail to brilliant triumph. On the other hand, there might be a good reason why the genius is lonely. 

Or should your company trust the wisdom of crowds? Surely a strategy must be good if it attracts a whole crowd? It’s not groupthink, it’s consensus. Then again, the very fact that there’s a whole crowd suggests that your company won’t gain unique competitive advantage.