Time Magazine has named You as person of the year.

“You were named TIME magazine’s “Person of the Year” on Saturday for the explosive growth and influence of user-generated Internet sites such as YouTube, Facebook and MySpace.”

What an interesting development. Does this mean that the main stream is finally starting to understand the power of the crowd? Does this mean that the captains of industry will start to listen to their own employees, and turn to them and end users for input on how to develop and improve an organization?

For example, go over to ABC News and read an article called Army Captain’s Simple Demonstration: How to Win in Iraq. The article is about a brilliant and practical power point presentation by Capt. Travis Patriquin. The power point deck explains why the US is having trouble training an Iraqi army: Iraqis do not want to join an army that might station them far from home. The deck also explains how working with local Sheiks to transform militias into Police units would be a better approach.

You can get a copy of the deck here: Patriquin’s Presentation.

According to ABC, Capt. Travis Patriquin had fought in Afghanistan and Iraq. He also spoke Arabic. He was recently killed in action, by an IED.

Does Time’s Person of the year award mean that the President of the US will start to leverage the strategic (ie not tactical) insights of expert people in the field?

It is possible to create organizational structures that are capable of leveraging the equivalent of user generated content. In these environments, leaders become coaches. The athletes in the field call their own plays. The end user designs your product. And Captains on the battlefield tell you exactly how to win the war.

This is a broader vision than some kid on YouTube uploading a video or leaving a comment on MySpace. Does Time’s Person of the year award help to achieve that vision? It’ll be interesting to see what happens in 2007.