Cultivate Labs Blog
Discussing how crowd forecasting, internal crowdfunding, and other new workplace trends can be used to improve the #futureofwork
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By Faith Powell on Jul 11, 2023
New capability makes it easy to collect forecasts from wider audiences
Cultivate has released a new “request for response” capability that allows you to send any audience a simple survey, in which they can submit forecasts that will automatically get aggregated with your crowd’s on your Forecasts platform.
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By Ben Roesch on May 05, 2023
Does forecasting accuracy really matter?
tl;dr - Yes, of course it matters. But improving it in lieu of the other benefits crowdsourced forecasting can provide continues to receive an outsized portion of attention when thinking about how to use crowdsourced forecasting to improve decision-making.
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By Adam Siegel on Jun 08, 2020
Expert Q&A: The U.S. Government’s Challenges for Ongoing Risk Communication About COVID-19
An interview with an expert in risk communication about the ongoing challenges of communicating about COVID-19
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By Adam Siegel on May 31, 2019
We need to make it feel ok to be wrong sometimes
No one enjoys being wrong. It’s an unpleasant emotional experience for any of us. But that’s exactly the risk we’re suggesting people take when we ask them to make a forecast about the future.
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By Adam Siegel on Mar 14, 2019
The Rise of Anonymous Tough Love (And Not a Moment Too Soon)
When we start projects with our clients, one of the first items we talk about is whether they want people to be anonymous in our prediction market or if they’ll use their real identities. The answer often reveals a lot, both about company culture and their personal fears of what will be made transparent. The spoiler alert is most don’t want anonymity.
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By Adam Siegel on Mar 05, 2019
The Culture of Fear Problem
After working with dozens of companies who have culture initiatives, I’m convinced their multi-million dollar investments in consultants, employee time, internal marketing, and the like will only see a partial return because a blocker is in their way: their culture of fear.
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By Adam Siegel on Oct 22, 2018
Before we talk, are YOU ready?
In the last month we’ve had two potential clients, after receiving proposals from us for projects, say they needed to step back and start the projects very differently than what we had originally discussed. They just weren't ready yet, they acknowledged...
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By Adam Siegel on Oct 08, 2018
Appreciating a roof over my head all over again
I recently took a trip to the White Mountains in New Hampshire to hike the "Presidential Traverse" and was reminded how much we take for granted in our daily lives.
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By Cultivate Labs on Mar 22, 2018
Let Employees Run With Change, It’s Not a Health Risk
When an organization is undergoing dramatic change, much of the focus is rightfully placed on how leaders communicate to employees. But what's often forgotten is getting signals back from employees about how they're dealing with change. Are they supportive? What do they think should be prioritized? An internal idea crowdfunding campaign can be a powerful motivator to make employees part of the solution and give purpose when it's most needed.
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By Cultivate Labs on Mar 19, 2018
The Traffic Light Metaphor for Project Status is a Disaster
Everyone who has worked in corporate America has seen or used it. The traffic light metaphor for status. Red, there’s significant problems with a project. Yellow, there are some issues, but we’re going to make it. Green, all is good. Unfortunately, this system is a disaster for decision making.
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By Adam Siegel on Nov 13, 2017
Sales and Operational Planning: Bad Forecasts Don't Have to be a Given
Cultivate Labs CEO, Adam Siegel, recently spoke at the Institute for Business Forecasting and Planning and spent time hearing directly form attendees about the challenges they face. He shares lessons learned about the challenges sales and operations planners face in their roles, and how crowdsourced forecasting can alleviate them and improve their forecast accuracy and efficiency.
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By Vanessa Pineda on Jul 25, 2017
Forecasting Shouldn't Be a Gamble. 5 Things to Do to Succeed with Crowdsourced Forecasting.
In more than 10 years of working with large companies on building prediction markets and other crowdsourced forecasting mechanisms, we’ve seen one common thread with the projects that are unsuccessful. Project owners overestimate the technology, and underestimate what it takes to engage people to make the technology successful. Avoid these 5 pitfalls to improve the success of your Cultivate Forecasts prediction market.
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By Adam Siegel on Jul 20, 2017
Have you heard "I think we're doing something wrong" recently? If not, you're doing something wrong.
An open door policy isn't an effective feedback tool for leadership if you haven't created an organizational culture that's open to feedback. Your team can provide valuable insight and feedback about decisions, so actively work to create an environment in which employees are comfortable speaking up to leadership.
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By Cultivate Labs on Jul 18, 2017
The Strength That Comes From Within
As crowdsourcing becomes more widely adopted as a corporate innovation tool, the spotlight is on external crowdsourcing: engaging outside stakeholders such as experts, customers, and the general public to understand market demands and to collaborate on new product and service development. At the same time, organizations have recognized the innovative power of one more important constituency: their own employees.
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By Cultivate Labs on Jun 23, 2017
Travis Kalanick Ousted from Uber and the Erosion of the "Boys Club" Mentality as Good for Business
The ousting of Uber CEO Travis Kalanick on Tuesday is hardly surprising, though perhaps a bit out of step for both the revered ‘boys club’ who traditionally protect their own and the Silicon Valley culture that worships individuals who can, at all costs, create 10x returns on investment. But he should’ve seen it coming a long time ago, he brought it on himself after all...
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By Vanessa Pineda on Jun 01, 2017
Why Execs Struggle with Innovation, and the Culture Fix They’re Missing
The stats on innovation leadership within corporations show there's a big discrepancy between leaders' appetite for innovation and their ability to execute. Corporate innovation won't succeed when it's solely driven from the top. It has to be fostered as an organizational capability. Here's a starting point.
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By Cultivate Labs on Apr 18, 2017
Multinational Energy Company Uses Crowdsourcing to Predict Impacting Factors of Oil & Gas Prices
A multinational energy company uses Cultivate Forecasts predict economic and geopolitical events that impact oil and gas prices. We find out why they decided to incorporate internal crowdsourcing within their business and how they have been so successful at engaging employee participation.
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By Adam Siegel on Apr 06, 2017
Just Start Asking
if companies, especially the large ones, want lasting innovation - the kind that permeates everything they do, the kind where “innovation” never has to be spoken about, i.e. “let’s be innovative,” they just are by design, there are two things that have to be fundamentally re-thought...
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By Adam Siegel on Jan 31, 2017
Is Toxic Culture Killing Your Company?
Thanks to the Illinois Technology Association (of which we are a member) for publishing our guest blog post on toxic corporate culture. We make the argument that before you can heavily invest in shiny new technology as you prepare for the #futureofwork, you should look to make positive changes to your culture first to take maximum advantage of your investment.
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By Vanessa Pineda on Dec 19, 2016
What Happens When You Provide a Refund Mechanism in a Crowdfunding App?
In the application itself, we created a feature you won’t find on Kickstarter - a “refund” button - to encourage employees to move their investments around.
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By Adam Siegel on May 10, 2016
Three Trends Set to Revolutionize How We Work
Our new white paper about "The Future of How We Work"
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By Adam Siegel on Mar 17, 2016
How Internal Crowdsourcing Will Transform the Way We Do Business
For years, companies of all shapes and sizes have utilized the power of the crowd to research, test, and drum up support for their products or service offerings. It makes sense — tapping into the external crowd can not only power idea generation at scale and in real time, but it can also drive engagement among your most important brand ambassadors.Traditionally, market research has dictated that customers (or people like them) are always the best sources of information. But this is limiting...
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By Adam Siegel on Feb 10, 2016
The Circle of (Work) Life
One of our developers left Cultivate recently to go work for a much larger company - an experience he has never had before. They are throwing more money at him than we ever could, and he will work on a team larger than our entire company...
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By Adam Siegel on Jan 11, 2016
Uber's Costly Fail in Germany is Symptomatic of an Age-Old Problem in Big Companies
It is incredible that a company of Uber's size, with the experience they have entering new markets is still having the kinds of colossal failures they are having in Germany. But Uber is certainly not alone in costly missteps like this and billions are being lost every year. Yet a solution already exists: your employees.
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By Jess Price on Oct 06, 2015
VC's should be doing this
Amongst the leadership teams of the portfolio companies at any medium to large investment firm, there is an incredible amount of experience, wisdom, and perspective that is not collectively being taken advantage of.
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