說到想創(chuàng)意，很多人第一時(shí)間想到的是大家坐在會(huì)議室里你一言我一語地頭腦風(fēng)暴。然而，一項(xiàng)面向創(chuàng)意人才的新調(diào)查指出，人們普遍認(rèn)為頭腦風(fēng)暴不利于出創(chuàng)意，在參會(huì)者沒有充分準(zhǔn)備的情況下舉行的頭腦風(fēng)暴會(huì)議就是在浪費(fèi)時(shí)間。

Perhaps more than any other category of professionals, creative types are expected to thrive in brainstorms. In the public’s imagination, their offices are filled with fidget toys and Post-it notes in an array of colors, all meant to absorb some of the energy of a group of fast-thinking, well-dressed hipsters deep in ideation mode.

也許和其他職業(yè)相比，創(chuàng)造性工作更應(yīng)該是頭腦風(fēng)暴的活躍之地。在公眾的想象里，創(chuàng)意人員的辦公室里放滿了抗壓玩具和五顏六色的便條，這些都是用于從思維敏捷、衣著光鮮的創(chuàng)意人才那里吸取構(gòu)思的能量。

hipster[?h?pst?r]: n. 世面靈通的人；趕時(shí)髦的人

ideation[?a?di?e??n]: n. 觀念形成，構(gòu)思過程；構(gòu)思能力

But a new report based on a survey of 20,000 creatives from 197 countries suggests that, in fact, a majority of these professionals—including writers, musicians, photographers, and podcasters—find that brainstorming is largely unhelpful for solving a creative challenge.

然而，基于一項(xiàng)對(duì)197個(gè)國(guó)家2萬名創(chuàng)意人才的新調(diào)查報(bào)告顯示，事實(shí)上，大多數(shù)創(chuàng)意人才——包括作家、音樂家、攝影師和播客——發(fā)現(xiàn)頭腦風(fēng)暴對(duì)于解決創(chuàng)意難題基本沒有幫助。

The survey, commissioned by the Dutch file-sharing company WeTransfer, attests to the perils of this form of groupthink. “In the creative world we hear an awful lot about collaboration, but it seems that while working together is essential to bring an idea to life, it’s not that good for shaping ideas in the first place,” notes Rob Alderson, WeTransfer’s recently departed editor in chief.

荷蘭文件共享公司W(wǎng)eTransfer委托開展的這項(xiàng)調(diào)查證實(shí)了這種集體決策形式的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。WeTransfer新近剛離職的主編羅伯·阿爾德森指出：“在創(chuàng)意世界里我們聽到很多關(guān)于合作的言論，但是從調(diào)查結(jié)果來看，盡管群策群力對(duì)于創(chuàng)意的落實(shí)很關(guān)鍵，但似乎不是很有利于創(chuàng)意最初的形成。”

WeTransfer’s annual survey of creatives echoes previous research about the need for individual preparation and introspection. “Send people off with the time and space to think properly and the quality of their ideas will probably improve,” Alderson says.

WeTransfer對(duì)創(chuàng)意人才的年度調(diào)查與先前對(duì)于個(gè)人準(zhǔn)備和反思需求的調(diào)查結(jié)果不謀而合。阿爾德森說：“讓人們有時(shí)間和空間充分地思考，這樣他們的創(chuàng)意質(zhì)量才會(huì)提高?！?/p>

In the instinct to schedule meetings, it appears that we often neglect to give participants a chance to prepare and form their thoughts. It’s a crucial step that was championed by Alex Osborn, the legendary advertising executive who popularized brainstorming. “Osborn repeatedly extolled the virtues of solitude, of time spent far from the distractions of others, as part of his own creative process,” Lila MacLellan from Quartz has noted. “The man who gave us today’s whiteboard-centric chaotic brainstorming ritual placed as much, if not more, faith in the individual imagination.”

在安排會(huì)議時(shí)，我們似乎常常忽略了一點(diǎn)：給參會(huì)者準(zhǔn)備和形成自己想法的機(jī)會(huì)。這是頭腦風(fēng)暴之父、傳奇廣告主管亞歷克斯·奧斯本所推崇的關(guān)鍵一步。石英財(cái)經(jīng)網(wǎng)的里拉·麥克萊倫指出：“奧斯本反復(fù)頌揚(yáng)獨(dú)處的益處，他表示遠(yuǎn)離他人干擾的獨(dú)處時(shí)間是自己構(gòu)思過程的一部分。這位創(chuàng)造了以白板為中心的鬧哄哄的頭腦風(fēng)暴儀式的男性對(duì)個(gè)人想象也非常看重?！?/p>

WeTransfer’s survey suggests that dutiful meetings are a primary creativity killer. More than 40% of respondents now consider “work”—including the administrative tasks required of employees in big corporations—as a barrier to good thinking. “That’s a worrying number given almost 90% of our respondents work in creative fields which rise and fall on the power of good ideas,” the report states. “It seems we need to rethink the way we work and play, particularly how we spend time in the office.”

WeTransfer的調(diào)查表明，常規(guī)會(huì)議是創(chuàng)造力的一大殺手。超過40%的受訪者現(xiàn)在認(rèn)為“工作”——包括大公司員工的行政事務(wù)——阻礙了他們好好思考。報(bào)告寫道：“考慮到近90%的受訪者都在嚴(yán)重依賴好點(diǎn)子的創(chuàng)意領(lǐng)域工作，這個(gè)比例令人擔(dān)憂?？雌饋砦覀冃枰匦滤伎甲约旱倪\(yùn)作方式，尤其是在辦公室里的時(shí)間規(guī)劃?！?/p>

Independent thinking is also crucial when making decisions. Sure enough, nearly 80% of creative professionals in WeTransfer’s poll say they trust their own instincts and research when evaluating an idea. Only 18% will run an idea past colleagues and friends.

獨(dú)立思考在做決定時(shí)也十分關(guān)鍵。確實(shí)，WeTransfer調(diào)查的近80%的創(chuàng)意人士表示，在衡量一個(gè)創(chuàng)意時(shí)他們相信自己的直覺和調(diào)研。只有18%的人會(huì)讓同事和朋友幫忙把關(guān)。

In polling creatives around the world, WeTransfer surfaced some fascinating geographic outliers. For instance, when it comes to the biggest distractions to thinking about ideas, the French are more likely to blame their social life than their jobs, their partners, or social media. The Chinese, meanwhile, are more prone to point the finger at their partners.

在調(diào)查世界各地的創(chuàng)意人才時(shí)，WeTransfer發(fā)現(xiàn)了一些有趣的地理異常值。例如，在被問及創(chuàng)意思考中最大的干擾時(shí)，法國(guó)人更可能將其歸咎于自己的社交生活而不是自己的工作、配偶或社交媒體。與此同時(shí)，中國(guó)人更傾向于認(rèn)為自己的配偶是最大的干擾源。

outlier[?a?tla??r]: n. （統(tǒng)計(jì)）異常值

Though the growing body of evidence suggests brainstorming may not result in the best ideas, it isn’t entirely useless. A Northern Illinois University study published in the Journal Communication Reports underscores its value as a team-building activity rather than a tactical meeting. If nothing else, practicing tacit rules of brainstorming—positivity, openness, building on other’s ideas—promotes team cohesion and trust.

盡管越來越多的證據(jù)顯示，頭腦風(fēng)暴可能無法產(chǎn)生最好的創(chuàng)意，但它也不是完全無用的。美國(guó)北伊利諾伊大學(xué)發(fā)表在《期刊通信報(bào)告》上的一項(xiàng)研究強(qiáng)調(diào)了頭腦風(fēng)暴作為團(tuán)隊(duì)建設(shè)活動(dòng)而非戰(zhàn)術(shù)討論會(huì)的價(jià)值。不說別的，就說頭腦風(fēng)暴心照不宣的規(guī)則——積極、開放、建立在別人想法的基礎(chǔ)之上——就能促進(jìn)團(tuán)隊(duì)凝聚力和信任。

英文來源：石英財(cái)經(jīng)網(wǎng)

翻譯&編輯：丹妮