Category Archives: Crowdsourcing

A Performance Paradox: Why Is Crowdsourcing So Seldom Used?

Call it a performance paradox: while being an effective innovation tool, crowdsourcing is seldom used by organizations. A fresh example of this paradox came in the recent Gartner 2016 CIO Agenda Report (highlighted in a June 27, 2016 Forbes article). … Continue reading

Posted in Crowdsourcing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Fashion guru Tim Gunn on crowdsourcing

Tim Gunn is a prominent fashion consultant, TV personality and author. He’s best known as the Emmy Award-winning co-host of the reality show Project Runway; he’s also the author of four bestselling books. Now, I have to admit that I … Continue reading

Posted in Crowdsourcing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The beauty of crowdsourcing

Last week, I spoke with Paul Arnold, a seasoned business writer and BBC alumnus. The topic of our conversation was crowdsourcing: how companies use it and why they’re often disappointed with the results of their crowdsourcing campaigns. The full text … Continue reading

Posted in Crowdsourcing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Want the correct answer (and perhaps to be a millionaire too)?

Over the past few months, I’ve been preaching the virtues of crowdsourcing to young entrepreneurs and startup (co)-founders. Perhaps, I’m not a good preacher, but very often, my message is being met with a visible skepticism. Why would I approach … Continue reading

Posted in Crowdsourcing, Startups | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Can we make crowdsourcing available to small companies?

Crowdsourcing is a powerful open innovation tool allowing organizations to tap on the collective wisdom of their own employees (internal crowdsourcing) or pools of external talent around the world (external crowdsourcing). Internal crowdsourcing (usually managed through Internal Innovation Networks) can be … Continue reading

Posted in Crowdsourcing, Innovation, Internal Innovation Networks, Startups | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Can the Wisdom of Crowds Help Solve the Refugee Crisis in Europe?

(A longer version of this piece originally appeared on the Qmarkets blog) The refugee crisis that keeps tormenting Europe, as serious as it is, has two additional troubling features. First, despite the fact that the humanitarian situation in the Middle … Continue reading

Posted in Crowdsourcing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What Do Numbers Say About Different Models of Innovation?

I’m not a fan of the “idea generation” model of innovation. This approach, which I call “bottom-up,” puts the focus of innovation on ideas that are generated by employees on the ground and then channeled upwards to senior management. I … Continue reading

Posted in Crowdsourcing, Innovation, Innovation Service Providers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Crowdsourcing data analysis–and everything else

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a troubling finding questioning the objectivity of the traditional market research. A team of scientists from Imperial College London conducted a study on how marketing managers choose products and services. The study showed … Continue reading

Posted in Crowdsourcing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Don’t blame crowdsourcing for your own faults

There is a Russian saying: to break into the open door. It describes a situation when someone is trying to solve a problem that simply doesn’t exist. I’m always reminded of this saying when I hear complaints that crowdsourcing isn’t … Continue reading

Posted in Crowdsourcing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Is it time to replace market research with crowdsourcing?

We all know the drill: In order to innovate, you need to know what your customers want. In practice, companies either create marketing departments in house or order market research data from outside. The idea is that once you focused … Continue reading

Posted in Crowdsourcing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments