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<\/p>\nBy Richard Socarides, Head of Public Affairs at GLG<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What if, when faced with a hard decision, you could access a platform which allowed you to tap the world\u2019s most valuable and hard-to-reach asset: the wisdom in people\u2019s heads?<\/p>\n
And what if people around the world used the same platform to get paid well to share what they know best \u2013 with decision-makers who are making a tangible difference?<\/p>\n
Those are the radical ideas at the heart of the Expert Economy, and the premise of a report released this summer called\u00a0The Rise of the Expert Economy: Could Sharing Wisdom Be the Next Gig?<\/a><\/i>, by Bruce Reed, a former senior official in the Obama and Clinton White Houses and co-chair of The Aspen Institute Future of Work Initiative, and his co-author Matthew Atwell.<\/p>\n Reed and Atwell dig through the data to uncover the origins, evolution, and disruptive potential of this fast-growing sector, which\u00a0GLG<\/a>\u00a0founded 20 years ago and continues to lead today. In a sector that took in an estimated $1B+ last year, one of their most striking findings is that the top firms collectively work with about 1.5 million experts \u2013 that\u2019s about as many as Uber and Lyft have U.S. drivers. Those numbers are substantial \u2013 and growing fast.<\/p>\n And people are taking note.<\/p>\n Since the report\u2019s release, its findings have been attracting attention from professionals ranging from the\u00a0healthcare<\/a>\u00a0to the\u00a0legal<\/a>\u00a0industries. \u201cIn today\u2019s environment, even companies with a deep bench of talent have gaps in knowledge,\u201d writes David Goldsmith for\u00a0Forbes<\/a><\/i>. \u201cIt\u2019s comforting to know that the next expert you need may be almost as easy to find as that next ride across town.\u201d<\/p>\n GLG, where I\u2019m head of communications, came up with the idea which now forms the Expert Economy, and we still lead it today. And as the report points out, being the oldest and by far the largest means GLG is uniquely poised to benefit from the network effects created as the overall marketplace grows and accelerates.<\/p>\n I couldn\u2019t be prouder than to be a part of the team setting the standard for our industry and powering an entirely new way to get work done.<\/p>\n I\u2019m also proud because I\u2019ve seen firsthand in my own career that nothing feeds strong decision-making better than the wisdom earned through lived experience. In a professional life that\u2019s taken me (with a lot of luck) from law to the White House to human rights advocacy and communications, I\u2019ve seen that the best decisions are driven by inputs from a range of smart perspectives.<\/p>\n There\u2019s almost never an easy answer \u2013 but if you consult the right people, with the right mindset, you can minimize risks and increase the likelihood of a positive outcome.<\/p>\n And maybe that\u2019s the really radical implication of the Expert Economy: in a society and an economy that offer a lot of breathless headlines about how artificial intelligence and machine learning can save the day, the real competitive edge could turn out to lie in the ability to tap into human intelligence. Because connecting experts with answers to professionals with questions makes decisions clearer and outcomes smarter. And platforms like GLG are making it happen, every day.<\/p>\n