頭腦風暴是在浪費時間?

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.

也許和其他職業相比，創造性工作更應該是頭腦風暴的活躍之地。在公衆的想象裏，創意人員的辦公室裏放滿了抗壓玩具和五顏六色的便條，這些都是用於從思維敏捷、衣着光鮮的創意人才那裏吸取構思的能量。

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，基於一項對197個國家2萬名創意人才的新調查報告顯示，事實上，大多數創意人才——包括作家、音樂家、攝影師和播客——發現頭腦風暴對於解決創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WeTransfer委託開展的這項調查證實了這種集體決策形式的風險。WeTransfer新近剛離職的主編羅伯·阿爾德森指出：“在創意世界裏我們聽到很多關於合作的言論，但是從調查結果來看，儘管羣策羣力對於創意的落實很關鍵，但似乎不是很有利於創意最初的形成。”

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對創意人才的年度調查與先前對於個人準備和反思需求的調查結果不謀而合。阿爾德森說：“讓人們有時間和空間充分地思考，這樣他們的創意質量纔會提高。”

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."

在安排會議時，我們似乎常常忽略了一點：給參會者準備和形成自己想法的機會。這是頭腦風暴之父、傳奇廣告主管亞歷克斯·奧斯本所推崇的關鍵一步。石英財經網的里拉·麥克萊倫指出：“奧斯本反覆頌揚獨處的益處，他表示遠離他人干擾的獨處時間是自己構思過程的一部分。這位創造了以白板爲中心的鬧哄哄的頭腦風暴儀式的男性對個人想象也非常看重。”

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的調查表明，常規會議是創造力的一大殺手。超過40%的受訪者現在認爲“工作”——包括大公司員工的行政事務——阻礙了他們好好思考。報告寫道：“考慮到近90%的受訪者都在嚴重依賴好點子的創意領域工作，這個比例令人擔憂。看起來我們需要重新思考自己的運作方式，尤其是在辦公室裏的時間規劃。”

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.

獨立思考在做決定時也十分關鍵。確實，WeTransfer調查的近80%的創意人士表示，在衡量一個創意時他們相信自己的直覺和調研。只有18%的人會讓同事和朋友幫忙把關。

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.

在調查世界各地的創意人才時，WeTransfer發現了一些有趣的地理異常值。例如，在被問及創意思考中最大的干擾時，法國人更可能將其歸咎於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，中國人更傾向於認爲自己的配偶是最大的干擾源。

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.

儘管越來越多的證據顯示，頭腦風暴可能無法產生最好的創意，但它也不是完全無用的。美國北伊利諾伊大學發表在《期刊通信報告》上的一項研究強調了頭腦風暴作爲團隊建設活動而非戰術討論會的價值。不說別的，就說頭腦風暴心照不宣的規則——積極、開放、建立在別人想法的基礎之上——就能促進團隊凝聚力和信任。