Oracles

From the selection of the new lead in a Broadway musical, to forecasting Congressional elections, to the delivery delay of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, prediction markets have solved a fascinating range of problems by aggregating the so-called wisdom of crowds. For many companies prediction markets have remained an interesting curiosity. But operating under-the-radar, a number of innovative companies--General Electric and Google, Motorola and Microsoft, HP and Eli Lilly, plus the Central Intelligence Agency--have tapped employee insights and used markets to make better decisions, and to allow employees to become visionaries. In Oracles, Don Thompson explains how these organizations use prediction markets to change how business gets done. The successes and failures of these companies, along with the roadblocks they face and overcome, provide a roadmap for leaders brave enough to test their expertise against the collective wisdom of their employees and the market--to the betterment of the bottom line.