Synopses & Reviews
A practical guide to tapping into the abundant ideas and talent outside your organization Successful organizations are constantly searching for new ideas. Historically, organizations have looked to their employees and select partners. They have used techniques like brainstorming to gather and evaluate ideas. However, in today’s market, talent and new ideas can be found everywhere.
The Internet has enabled organizations to greatly expand their searches far beyond their four walls. Instead of ten or one hundred people, organizations from startups to Fortunate 500 firms can work with thousands or tens of thousands to discover and assess many, many more ideas (as well as prototypes, partners and people). We call this Crowdstorming.
But how do you organize so many people and ideas to get the best results?
Our goal is to help our readers make Crowdstorming work; to help more organizations engage with people far beyond their organizational borders, to find better ideas, solutions, talent and partners so we can address some of our most challenging problems -- not just for the sake of business, but for our society, too.
- Shaun Abrahamson has spent more than a decade as an early stage investor and advisor partnering with leading startups and global organizations to identify, create and launch new businesses enabled by newly possible relationships with customers and experts.
- Peter Ryder is the former President of jovoto and has broad experience as a consultant helping organizations improve their business through the use of new technologies.
- Bastian Unterberg is the founder and CEO of jovoto, a Berlin and NYC based firms that organizes a 40,000 person strong creative community to work with global brands on problems ranging from new product design to sustainable architecture.
Synopsis
Tap the best of the crowd in order to put yourself ahead of the competitionIncreasingly, organizations recognize that they require a new foundation for problem-solving and innovation in order to respond rapidly to changes in their business. The solution: Access a broad array of talent wherever it exists. Crowdstorm shows you how to effectively leverage external networks to solicit, refine, and select ideas for innovation in a wide variety of fields from marketing to product development. By learning the processes and gathering the right tools, organizations will be able to attract and motivate talent to improve their approach to complex problem solving, idea creation, and innovation.
- Describes how organizations can find a new infrastructure to organize their work using extended communities
- Bastian Unterberg is the founder and CEO of jovoto, a Berlin and NYC based consultancy shaping future work environments and dedicated to nurturing talent by leveraging the power of collaboration
- Shaun Abrahamson is the founder and CEO of mutopo, working with organizations to help them benefit from large scale collaboration with experts and customers.
The best solutions and innovations are waiting to be found. Crowdstorm gives you the tools to find the right people for your organization, right now.
Synopsis
Most of the best people do not work for you. But this does not have to mean that you cannot work with them. Crowdstorming shows how leading organizations are tapping into outside talent for everything from strategy and business development to design and marketing.The Internet has enabled organizations to greatly expand their searches far beyond their four walls. Instead of ten or one hundred people, organizations from startups to Fortune 500 firms can work with thousands or tens of thousands to discover and assess many more ideas (as well as prototypes, partners, and people). We call this crowdstorming.
Crowdstorm will teach you how to effectively work with external networks to solicit, refine, and select ideas. By learning the patterns and gathering the right tools, organizations will discover the best approaches to planning, organizing, and executing crowdstorming projects. This practical guide shows you:
- How to address internal concerns about working with external talent
- How to pose the right questions to large groups of participants
- How to build fair incentives that compel that community to participate
- How to effectively manage online crowdstorming processes
- The technology alternatives to enable crowdstorming
- How to evaluate results and select the best ideas
Based on the experience and research from many hundreds of projects with leading Fortune 500 organizations as well as startups, Crowdstorm will help you harness the power of the crowd to capture your business's next big idea.
Synopsis
Brainstorm at Internet scale to find and evaluate ideas and talentWe've been using brainstorming for more than sixty years. Now it is possible to greatly improve the process by organizing large crowds of diverse talent. We call it crowdstorming. Through the power of crowdstorming, a process of working with thousands of people to generate and refine more ideas than ever before, your firm can tap into the world's talent and knowledge base. Whether you're a Fortune 500 or a mid-size company, Crowdstorm will teach you how to solicit, refine, and choose ideas from a broad variety of networks for everything from business models to packaging design.
Learn best practices for planning, organizing, and executing crowdstorming projects. This indispensable guide to innovation shows you:
- The best tools for implementing a crowdstorming initiative
- How to find and recruit participants
- The right questions to ask participants in order to extract the best ideas
- How to fairly compensate those participants for their efforts
- How to navigate the legal hurdles involved in using external talent
- How to assess and select the best ideas
Crowdstorming creates opportunities for broadening your organization's reach to find talent and ideas to improve your business. By learning the processes and gathering the right tools, you'll be able to attract and motivate talent to improve your approaches to complex problem solving, idea creation, and innovation. Crowdstorm will guide you every step of the way.
About the Author
Shaun Abrahamson is an early stage investor and advisor. For the last decade, he has worked with some of today's leading startups. At Mutopo, he advises global firms on how to benefit from online connections with customers and experts. He built computer-aided design tools at MIT, studied at the Berlin School of Creative Leadership, lectured at the Wharton School and New York University, and contributed to the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Peter Ryder is the former president of jovoto, Inc., a startup whose platform and community help companies innovate and solve challenges facing their business. After a successful career in consulting at Deloitte, CSC, and Accenture helping organizations use technology to transform their operations, he now invests in new ventures and advises organizations on how to take advantage of new technologies in today's digital economy.
Bastian Unterberg is the founder and CEO of jovoto, a Berlin- and NYC-based firm that organizes a 40,000-person strong creative community to work with global brands on problems ranging from new product design to sustainable architecture. His work has been featured in various media such as Page, New York Times, Focus, and Fast Company. An active speaker, Bastian presents at various national and international conferences.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: First, Some Context
Planning: The Art of the Possible
Chapter 2: Before You Start -- Legal and Brand Discussions
Chapter 3: Ask The Right Question – The Call to Action
Chapter 4: Motivate the Crowd – Fair Incentives for Participants
Organizing: Coalitions and Recruiting
Chapter 5: Build The Coalition – Partners Enable the Process
Chapter 6: Recruit The Desired Participants -- How to Build Creative Communities For Your Project
Executing: Management, Monitoring and Results
Chapter 7: Facilitate Great Outcomes - Managing Creative Communities
Chapter 8: Participant Monitoring – Measuring Activity
Chapter 9: Select The Best Ideas - Dealing with the “Tyranny of Ideas”
Technology Considerations
Chapter 10: Choosing the Right Online Space
META
Chapter 11: Reflect On The Process To Refine The Process
Endnotes
List of Figures and Tables