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.
Read moreIf you’re leading a large team that’s globally dispersed, you understand the challenge to create an innovative culture that can span physical boundaries. Here are 3 lessons from one Fortune 100 client running an innovation campaign across multiple countries that's exceeded expectations in countries including Japan.
Read moreAfter 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.
Read moreI 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.
Read moreWe recently did a project with a private company doing quite well in the marketplace. Its products are widely used and its growth over the past few years has been spectacular. Financially, the company is on really solid footing. But culturally, there were storm clouds. Growth has meant employing a few hundred people to a few thousand in only a few years. The CEO recognized this and lamented at the company's loss of its original hacker/builder culture...
Read moreWhen 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.
Read moreEveryone 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.
Read moreRecently, we launched a formal client satisfaction survey effort using a third party. Here's how we did.
Read moreGordon Gecko in Wall Street famously said: “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, for knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind.” Unfortunately the problem with greed is that it tends to lack humility.
Read moreThe relationship between employers and employees is changing as the drivers of employee satisfaction are changing. Employees are no longer driven solely by a paycheck - they want their work to have a purpose and to believe in what their organization offers to the world. Organizations must shift their focus from paychecks and soft benefits like casual dress codes and office ping pong tables to better engage employees by ensuring opportunities for purpose, learning, and flexibility in their jobs.
Read moreThe transition to flexible work styles has slowly been creeping into organizations for a long time, but acceptance and adoption of such practices has rapidly increased in past years due to rapid advancements in technology and a new generation flooding into the workforce. Flexible work styles will be far more common and accepted in the future. Is your organization prepared?
Read moreIn 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.
Read moreAn 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.
Read moreThe future of work is changing, and your car's gas gauge is an indicator of how. In a future that will be increasingly measured, acquiring, understanding, and leveraging data in a timely fashion will determine who sinks and who swims.
Read moreThe 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...
Read moreRecently on a Sunday during my weekly 2 hour break from all things family related, I sat at one of my favorite coffee houses and read the Sunday New York Times. An article in the Business section particularly caught my attention: The Trump Effect on CEO Pay, and it got me thinking: should a Board of Directors have a better check on their CEO than either termination or bonuses tied to stock price? Could there be something put in place better for the company's long-term prospects?
Read moreThe 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.
Read moreA 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.
Read moreif 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...
Read moreAs a small bootstrapped company, we're constantly worrying about our next stage of growth. And of course start up orthodoxy says any size business should have a few key performance metrics they track to be aware of how you're doing in the things that influence revenue, profit, and the culture you want to cultivate. But as we've learned, it's not enough to just track your KPI's, you need to forecast how you're going to do on them weeks and months ahead of time.
Read moreThanks 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.
Read moreIt 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.
Read moreWhile I’ll grant the naysayers that some networking events end up being a waste of time, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find one aspect universally helpful: the ability to have short, 5 minute conversations with everyone I meet about our business.
Read moreAmongst 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.
Read moreHave you ever been tasked with driving a project you’ve felt was going nowhere? Maybe you were a project manager or project owner, coordinating a team that was working on something you felt wasn’t gaining traction within the organization.
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