From Overwhelmed to Organized: Our Crowdsourcing Secret
Three years ago, Javier and I embarked on a journey that would challenge us in ways we didn’t expect—writing our book, Mindset Wizardry: The Magic Behind Thriving in a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous (VUCA) World. The process was a rollercoaster of excitement, learning, and, yes, we were a little bit overwhelmed. As we immersed ourselves in the research, we realized just how crucial it was to structure our approach thoughtfully.
Over the next several weeks, I’ll be sharing some key lessons we learned during the writing and publishing of our book. This blog series builds on some content we posted previously, but with more depth and reflection on what it truly took to bring Mindset Wizardry to life. Today, we’re starting with Lesson #1: Our Crowdsourcing Secret.
Why We Turned to Crowdsourcing
When Javier and I settled on the theme of thriving in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world, we quickly realized how broad the topic was. Our literature search turned up endless sources of information, and while all of it was relevant in some way, we faced a big problem—how do we focus on what’s most important without overwhelming ourselves and our readers? We had to avoid the trap of turning our book into a 1,200-page tome that no one would want to pick up.
That’s when we decided to crowdsource some of our research. Crowdsourcing allowed us to tap into a variety of perspectives—an invaluable resource when trying to filter and prioritize information. We wanted to know how people were skilled at navigating a VUCA environment were surviving and thriving. It wasn’t just about data—it was about insights, life experiences, and patterns we might have missed in the academic research.
The Tools: Conversations and Surveys
We started by interviewing more than 30 executives across different industries. These conversations helped us see where the theoretical rubber hit the practical road. It wasn’t just about what the research said—it was about what people have learned through life experiences and how they have applied that knowledge in creative and unexpected ways.
After gathering qualitative insights from those interviews, we shifted to a broader approach. We developed a survey, using the executives' feedback to focus on key themes and factors. That survey was distributed to more than 600 people, giving us a rich data set. We were able to identify clear trends, highlight recurring themes, and discover new angles we hadn’t initially considered.
Building the Framework and Crafting the Narrative
The insights we gathered from both the interviews and the survey were instrumental in helping us build the book’s framework. We used this data to craft the narrative for each of the five sections of Mindset Wizardry, ensuring that the content was not only grounded in research but also in real-world application. We wanted Mindset Wizardry to provide a practical guidebook for coping and thriving when facing VUCA.
With so much information at our fingertips, our challenge became how to focus. This is where crowdsourcing really saved us—it helped us spot patterns and prioritize what mattered most. Instead of trying to cover everything, we honed in on the key lessons and strategies that emerged from the data.
The Key Takeaway: People are Your Greatest Resource
Crowdsourcing gave us not only raw data but also practical, real experiences that brought the research to life. It’s easy to get bogged down in information when working on a large project but involving others in your research process can be a game-changer. The real-world perspectives helped us refine our thinking, simplify complex concepts, and tell stories that felt authentic and relatable to our readers.
In our next blog post, we’ll dive into Lesson #2: From Structure to Success: The Power of an Adaptable Outline. It covers how we used our outline as a strategic tool to guide our writing, divide the work, and keep our project on track. We also talk about how flexibility and structure work together when writing a book.