How frustration can make us more creative | Tim Harford

Translator: Katarína Šivecová Reviewer: Linda Magáthová

Late in January 1975,

Koncom januára v roku 1975

a 17-year-old German girl called Vera Brandes

17-ročná Nemka Vera Brandesová

walked out onto the stage of the Cologne Opera House.

vystúpila na pódium kolínskej opery.

The auditorium was empty.

Hľadisko bolo prázdne.

It was lit only by the dim, green glow of the emergency exit sign.

Osvetľovalo ho iba tlmené zelené označenie únikových východov.

This was the most exciting day of Vera's life.

Bol to najvzrušujúcejší deň Verinho života.

She was the youngest concert promoter in Germany,

V Nemecku bola najmladšou usporiadateľkou koncertov

and she had persuaded the Cologne Opera House

a podarilo sa jej presvedčiť kolínsku operu,

to host a late-night concert of jazz

aby uviedla večerný jazzový koncert

amerického hudobníka, Keitha Jaretta.

from the American musician, Keith Jarrett.

1,400 people were coming.

Malo naň prísť 1400 ľudí.

And in just a few hours,

A už o pár hodín

Jarrett would walk out on the same stage,

mal Jarrett vystúpiť na rovnaké pódium,

he'd sit down at the piano

posadiť sa za klavír

and without rehearsal or sheet music,

a bez skúšky či nôt

he would begin to play.

mal začať hrať.

But right now,

No práve v tej chvíli

Vera was introducing Keith to the piano in question,

Vera predstavovala Keithovi operný klavír,

and it wasn't going well.

čo neprebiehalo najlepšie.

Jarrett looked to the instrument a little warily,

Jarrett sa na klavír prezieravo zadíval,

played a few notes,

zahral pár tónov,

walked around it,

obišiel ho,

played a few more notes,

opäť zahral niekoľko tónov,

muttered something to his producer.

čosi zamrmlal svojmu producentovi.

Then the producer came over to Vera and said ...

Ten prišiel k Vere a povedal:

"If you don't get a new piano, Keith can't play."

„Musíte zabezpečiť nový klavír, inak Keith nemôže hrať.“

There'd been a mistake.

Stala sa chyba.

The opera house had provided the wrong instrument.

Operný dom poskytol zlý nástroj.

This one had this harsh, tinny upper register,

Tento pri vysokých tónoch vydával ostrý, plechový zvuk,

because all the felt had worn away.

lebo plsť kladiviek bola opotrebovaná.

The black notes were sticking,

Čierne klávesy sa zadrhávali,

the white notes were out of tune,

biele boli rozladené,

the pedals didn't work

pedále nefungovali

and the piano itself was just too small.

a celkovo bol klavír príliš malý.

It wouldn't create the volume

Nehral dosť nahlas na to,

that would fill a large space such as the Cologne Opera House.

aby naplnil rozľahlú kolínsku operu.

So Keith Jarrett left.

A tak Keith Jarrett odišiel.

He went and sat outside in his car,

Vyšiel von a sadol si do auta,

leaving Vera Brandes

kým sa Vera Brandes

to get on the phone to try to find a replacement piano.

snažila telefonicky vybaviť náhradný klavír.

Now she got a piano tuner,

Zohnala ladiča klavírov,

but she couldn't get a new piano.

ale nový klavír nie.

And so she went outside

Vyšla teda von,

and she stood there in the rain,

stála tam v daždi

talking to Keith Jarrett,

pred Keithom Jarrettom

begging him not to cancel the concert.

a prosila ho, aby koncert nezrušil.

And he looked out of his car

Díval sa cez okno auta

at this bedraggled, rain-drenched German teenager,

na zablatenú a premoknutú mladučkú Nemku,

took pity on her,

zľutoval sa nad ňou a povedal:

and said,

"Never forget ... only for you."

„Nikdy nezabudni... len kvôli tebe.“

And so a few hours later,

A tak o pár hodín

Jarrett did indeed step out onto the stage of the opera house,

Jarret skutočne vystúpil na operné pódium,

he sat down at the unplayable piano

posadil sa za nemožný klavír

and began.

a začal hrať.

(Music)

(hudba)

Within moments it became clear that something magical was happening.

Behom chvíľky bolo zrejmé, že sa deje niečo kúzelné.

Jarrett was avoiding those upper registers,

Jarrett sa vyhýbal vysokým tónom,

he was sticking to the middle tones of the keyboard,

držal sa prostredných klávesov,

which gave the piece a soothing, ambient quality.

čo skladbu robilo nadľahčenou a upokojujúcou.

But also, because the piano was so quiet,

A preto, že klavír hral tak potichu,

he had to set up these rumbling, repetitive riffs in the bass.

musel do nej zakomponovať aj opakované dunivé riffy.

And he stood up twisting, pounding down on the keys,

Dokonca vstal, zvŕtal sa, udieral do klávesov,

desperately trying to create enough volume to reach the people in the back row.

zúfalo sa snažil hrať tak nahlas, aby ho dobre počuli aj v zadných radoch.

It's an electrifying performance.

Je to úchvatné predstavenie.

It somehow has this peaceful quality,

Má to v sebe čosi upokojujúce

and at the same time it's full of energy,

a zároveň je to plné energie, má to šťavu.

it's dynamic.

And the audience loved it.

Obecenstvo si to zamilovalo.

Audiences continue to love it

A miluje to dodnes,

because the recording of the Köln Concert

nahrávka z koncertu v Kolíne

is the best-selling piano album in history

je totiž najpredávanejším klavírnym albumom

and the best-selling solo jazz album in history.

a najpredávanejším sólovým jazzovým albumom v histórii.

Keith Jarrett had been handed a mess.

Keitha Jarretta postavili pred prekážku.

He had embraced that mess, and it soared.

On ju prijal a vyšlo to.

But let's think for a moment about Jarrett's initial instinct.

Na chvíľu sa však zamyslime nad Jarrettovým prvotným inštinktom.

He didn't want to play.

Nechcel hrať.

Of course,

Samozrejme,

I think any of us, in any remotely similar situation,

myslím, že každý z nás by sa v podobnej situácii

would feel the same way, we'd have the same instinct.

cítil takisto, mali by sme rovnaký inštinkt.

We don't want to be asked to do good work with bad tools.

Nechceme podávať dobrý výkon so zlými nástrojmi.

We don't want to have to overcome unnecessary hurdles.

Ak nemusíme, nechceme prekonávať zbytočné prekážky.

But Jarrett's instinct was wrong,

No Jarrettov inštinkt nebol správny,

and thank goodness he changed his mind.

a chvalabohu si to rozmyslel.

And I think our instinct is also wrong.

Myslím, že aj náš inštinkt je nesprávny.

I think we need to gain a bit more appreciation

Podľa mňa by sme mali byť vďačnejší za nečakané výhody

for the unexpected advantages of having to cope with a little mess.

plynúce z toho, že si musíme poradiť s menším chaosom.

So let me give you some examples

Uvediem niekoľko príkladov

from cognitive psychology,

z kognitívnej psychológie,

from complexity science,

z komplexných vied,

from social psychology,

zo sociálnej psychológie

and of course, rock 'n' roll.

a prirodzene aj z rock 'n' rollu.

So cognitive psychology first.

Tak najprv kognitívna psychológia.

We've actually known for a while

V podstate už nejaký čas vieme,

that certain kinds of difficulty,

že isté druhy ťažkostí,

certain kinds of obstacle,

určité typy prekážok,

can actually improve our performance.

môžu náš výkon zlepšiť.

For example,

Napríklad,

the psychologist Daniel Oppenheimer,

psychológ Daniel Oppenheimer

a few years ago,

začal pred pár rokmi

teamed up with high school teachers.

spolupracovať so stredoškolskými učiteľmi.

And he asked them to reformat the handouts

Požiadal ich, aby upravili učebné materiály,

that they were giving to some of their classes.

čo dávali svojim študentom.

So the regular handout would be formatted in something straightforward,

Učebné materiály zvyčajne majú ľahko čitateľné písmo,

such as Helvetica or Times New Roman.

povedzme Helvetica alebo Times New Roman.

But half these classes were getting handouts that were formatted

Polovica tried však dostávala podklady

in something sort of intense, like Haettenschweiler,

s výrazným typom písma, ako Haettenschweiler

or something with a zesty bounce, like Comic Sans italicized.

alebo zábavným, napríklad Comic Sans kurzívou.

Now, these are really ugly fonts,

Sú to naozaj škaredé typy písma

and they're difficult fonts to read.

a dosť ťažko sa čítajú.

But at the end of the semester,

No na konci školského roka

students were given exams,

študentov čakali skúšky

and the students who'd been asked to read the more difficult fonts,

a tí, ktorí boli nútení čítať náročnejšie typy písma,

had actually done better on their exams,

ich urobili lepšie,

in a variety of subjects.

a to z rozličných predmetov.

And the reason is,

Dôvodom je, že obtiažne písmo ich spomalilo,

the difficult font had slowed them down,

forced them to work a bit harder,

prinútilo ich vynaložiť trochu viac síl,

to think a bit more about what they were reading,

trochu viac rozmýšľať nad tým, čo čítajú,

to interpret it ...

pochopiť význam,

and so they learned more.

a tak sa naučili viac.

Another example.

Iný príklad.

The psychologist Shelley Carson has been testing Harvard undergraduates

Psychologička Shelley Carsonová testovala na harvardských študentoch

for the quality of their attentional filters.

kvalitu ich pozornostných filtrov.

What do I mean by that?

Čo mám na mysli?

What I mean is, imagine you're in a restaurant,

Predstavte si, že ste s niekým v reštaurácii,

you're having a conversation,

rozprávate sa,

there are all kinds of other conversations going on in the restaurant,

súčasne v reštaurácii prebieha mnoho ďalších rozhovorov,

you want to filter them out,

snažíte sa ich vyfiltrovať

you want to focus on what's important to you.

a sústrediť sa na to, čo je pre vás dôležité.

Can you do that?

Dokážete to?

If you can, you have good, strong attentional filters.

Ak áno, máte dobrý a silný pozornostný filter.

But some people really struggle with that.

Niektorí ľudia s tým však naozaj bojujú.

Some of Carson's undergraduate subjects struggled with that.

Aj niektorí z Carsonovej vysokoškolských subjektov s tým bojovali.

They had weak filters, they had porous filters --

Mali slabé, priepustné filtre.

let a lot of external information in.

Vpúšťali množstvo vonkajších informácií.

And so what that meant is they were constantly being interrupted

To znamená, že boli neustále vyrušovaní

by the sights and the sounds of the world around them.

vnemami a zvukmi okolitého sveta.

If there was a television on while they were doing their essays,

Keby mali pri písaní eseje zapnutú televíziu,

nedokázali by si ju nevšímať.

they couldn't screen it out.

Now, you would think that that was a disadvantage ...

Mohlo by sa vám zdať, že je to nevýhoda...

but no.

ale nie je.

When Carson looked at what these students had achieved,

Keď sa Carsonová pozrela na to, čo títo študenti dosiahli,

the ones with the weak filters

tí so slabými filtrami

were vastly more likely

s väčšou pravdepodobnosťou

to have some real creative milestone in their lives,

v živote dosiahli nejaký kreatívny míľnik,

to have published their first novel,

vydali svoj prvý román,

to have released their first album.

vydali debutový album.

These distractions were actually grists to their creative mill.

Rozptyly pôsobili ako voda na ich mlyn kreativity.

They were able to think outside the box because their box was full of holes.

V hlave im vírili zvláštne nápady, lebo ich filter bol zavírený.

Let's talk about complexity science.

Poďme na komplexné vedy.

So how do you solve a really complex --

Ako vyriešite komplikovaný –

the world's full of complicated problems --

svet je plný zložitých problémov –

how do you solve a really complicated problem?

ako teda vyriešite naozaj zložitý problém?

Povedzme, že sa snažíte vyrobiť prúdový motor.

For example, you try to make a jet engine.

There are lots and lots of different variables,

Narazíte na mnoho rôznych premenných,

the operating temperature, the materials,

ako prevádzková teplota, materiál,

all the different dimensions, the shape.

rozličné rozmery, tvar.

You can't solve that kind of problem all in one go,

Takýto problém nemôžete vyriešiť naraz.

it's too hard.

Je to príliš ťažké.

So what do you do?

Čo teda urobíte?

Well, one thing you can do is try to solve it step-by-step.

Jednou možnosťou je skúsiť na to prísť krok za krokom.

So you have some kind of prototype

Čiže máte nejaký prototyp,

and you tweak it, you test it, you improve it.

doladíte ho, otestujete ho, vylepšíte ho.

You tweak it, you test it, you improve it.

Doladíte, otestujete, vylepšíte.

Now, this idea of marginal gains will eventually get you a good jet engine.

Drobné pokroky vás nakoniec dovedú k dobrému prúdovému motoru.

And it's been quite widely implemented in the world.

Podobný postup sa dnes využíva takmer všade.

So you'll hear about it, for example, in high performance cycling,

Môžete o ňom počuť napríklad pri rýchlostnej cyklistike,

web designers will talk about trying to optimize their web pages,

tvorcovia web stránok hovoria o optimalizácii web stránok,

they're looking for these step-by-step gains.

usilujú sa o tieto postupné pokroky.

That's a good way to solve a complicated problem.

Je to dobrý spôsob, ako vyriešiť zložitý problém.

But you know what would make it a better way?

Ale viete, čo by ho ešte vylepšilo?

A dash of mess.

Štipka chaosu.

You add randomness,

Necháte to na náhodu

early on in the process,

hneď na začiatku,

you make crazy moves,

urobíte bláznivý krok,

you try stupid things that shouldn't work,

skúsite niečo strelené, čo by nemalo fungovať,

and that will tend to make the problem-solving work better.

a to môže pomôcť lepšiemu riešeniu problémov.

And the reason for that is

Problém pri riešení problému krok za krokom,

the trouble with the step-by-step process,

the marginal gains,

pri postupných pokrokoch,

is they can walk you gradually down a dead end.

je v tom, že vás postupne môžu priviesť do slepej uličky.

And if you start with the randomness, that becomes less likely,

Ak však začnete náhodne, je to menej pravdepodobné

and your problem-solving becomes more robust.

a riešenie vášho problému sa stáva istejším.

Let's talk about social psychology.

Poďme na sociálnu psychológiu.

So the psychologist Katherine Phillips, with some colleagues,

Psychologička Katherine Phillipsová a jej kolegovia

recently gave murder mystery problems to some students,

dali študentom vyriešiť prípady záhadných vrážd.

and these students were collected in groups of four

Študentov rozdelili do 4-členných skupín

and they were given dossiers with information about a crime --

a dali im spisy s informáciami o zločine –

alibis and evidence, witness statements and three suspects.

alibi, dôkazy, výpovede svedkov, traja podozriví.

And the groups of four students were asked to figure out who did it,

Požiadali 4-členné skupinky, aby zistili, kto to urobil,

who committed the crime.

kto spáchal zločin.

And there were two treatments in this experiment.

Do experimentu však boli zapojené dvojaké skupinky.

In some cases these were four friends,

V niektorých boli štyria kamaráti,

they all knew each other well.

ktorí sa navzájom dobre poznali.

V iných boli traja kamaráti a jeden neznámy.

In other cases,

three friends and a stranger.

And you can see where I'm going with this.

Asi už viete, kam tým smerujem.

Obviously I'm going to say

Zjavne sa chystám povedať,

that the groups with the stranger solved the problem more effectively,

že skupinky s neznámym vyriešili problém efektívnejšie.

which is true, they did.

Je to naozaj tak.

Actually, they solved the problem quite a lot more effectively.

Vlastne problém vyriešili omnoho efektívnejšie.

So the groups of four friends,

Skupinky štyroch kamarátov

they only had a 50-50 chance of getting the answer right.

mali len 50 % šancu prísť na správnu odpoveď,

Which is actually not that great --

čo vlastne nie je veľká šanca.

in multiple choice, for three answers? 50-50's not good.

Ak máte vybrať z troch možností, 50 na 50 nestačí.

(Laughter)

(smiech)

The three friends and the stranger,

Traja kamaráti a neznámy,

even though the stranger didn't have any extra information,

hoci neznámy nemal žiadnu informáciu navyše

even though it was just a case

a šlo len o to,

of how that changed the conversation to accommodate that awkwardness,

ako zmenili konverzáciu, aby sa vyrovnali s rozpakmi,

the three friends and the stranger,

tí traja kamaráti a neznámy

they had a 75 percent chance of finding the right answer.

mali 75 % šancu zistiť správnu odpoveď.

That's quite a big leap in performance.

To je výrazný posun vpred.

But I think what's really interesting

Čo je ale ešte zaujímavejšie

is not just that the three friends and the stranger did a better job,

než to, že kamaráti s neznámym podali lepší výkon,

but how they felt about it.

je to, ako sa pri tom cítili.

So when Katherine Phillips interviewed the groups of four friends,

Keď sa na to Katherine Phillipsová pýtala skupinky štyroch kamarátov,

they had a nice time,

tvrdili, že sa cítili príjemne

they also thought they'd done a good job.

a mysleli si, že odviedli dobrú prácu.

They were complacent.

Boli nadmieru spokojní.

When she spoke to the three friends and the stranger,

Keď sa rozprávala s tromi kamarátmi a neznámym,

they had not had a nice time --

necítili sa dobre.

it's actually rather difficult, it's rather awkward ...

„Bolo to dosť ťažké, bolo to divné...“

and they were full of doubt.

A boli plní pochybností.

They didn't think they'd done a good job even though they had.

Nemali pocit, že by podali dobrý výkon, aj keď to tak bolo.

And I think that really exemplifies

Myslím, že toto krásne znázorňuje

the challenge that we're dealing with here.

výzvu, s ktorou sa tu stretávame.

Because, yeah --

Lebo –

the ugly font,

škaredé písmo,

the awkward stranger,

podivný neznámy,

the random move ...

náhodný krok...

these disruptions help us solve problems,

tieto narušenia nám pomáhajú riešiť problémy

they help us become more creative.

a stať sa tvorivejším.

But we don't feel that they're helping us.

My však necítime, že by nám pomáhali.

We feel that they're getting in the way ...

Máme pocit, že nám stoja v ceste...

and so we resist.

tak sa im bránime.

And that's why the last example is really important.

Preto je posledný príklad veľmi dôležitý.

So I want to talk about somebody

Chcem vám povedať o niekom

from the background of the world of rock 'n' roll.

zo zákulisného sveta rock 'n' rollu.

And you may know him, he's actually a TED-ster.

Možno ho poznáte, vlastne je to TED-ster.

His name is Brian Eno.

Volá sa Brian Eno.

He is an ambient composer -- rather brilliant.

Skladá upokojujúcu hudbu, je vynikajúci.

He's also a kind of catalyst

A je akýmsi katalyzátorom

niektorých najväčších rock 'n' rollových albumov za posledných 40 rokov.

behind some of the great rock 'n' roll albums of the last 40 years.

He's worked with David Bowie on "Heroes,"

Pracoval s Davidom Bowiem na Heroes,

he worked with U2 on "Achtung Baby" and "The Joshua Tree,"

pracoval s U2 na Achtung Baby a The Joshua Tree,

he's worked with DEVO,

robil so skupinou DEVO,

he's worked with Coldplay, he's worked with everybody.

pracoval s Coldplay, pracoval s každým.

And what does he do to make these great rock bands better?

Čo robí, aby vylepšil tieto rockové kapely?

Well, he makes a mess.

Spôsobuje chaos.

He disrupts their creative processes.

Narúša ich tvorivé procesy.

It's his role to be the awkward stranger.

Jeho úlohou je byť podivným neznámym.

It's his role to tell them

Jeho úlohou je povedať im,

that they have to play the unplayable piano.

že musia hrať na nemožnom klavíri.

And one of the ways in which he creates this disruption

Jedným zo spôsobov, ako ten chaos vyvoláva,

is through this remarkable deck of cards --

je tento pozoruhodný balíček kariet.

I have my signed copy here -- thank you, Brian.

Mám so sebou podpísanú kópiu – ďakujem, Brian.

They're called The Oblique Strategies,

Volajú sa Uhýbavé stratégie,

he developed them with a friend of his.

vymyslel ich so svojím kamarátom.

And when they're stuck in the studio,

Keď sa niekedy v štúdiu zaseknú,

Brian Eno will reach for one of the cards.

Brian Eno siahne po jednej z kariet.

He'll draw one at random,

Náhodne jednu vyberie

and he'll make the band follow the instructions on the card.

a kapela musí postupovať podľa inštrukcií na karte.

So this one ...

Napríklad táto...

"Change instrument roles."

„Vymeňte si nástroje.“

Yeah, everyone swap instruments -- Drummer on the piano --

Tak si vymenia nástroje. Bubeník hrá na klavíri...

Brilliant, brilliant idea.

Úžasný nápad.

"Look closely at the most embarrassing details. Amplify them."

„Zamerajte sa na najtrápnejšie detaily. Zvýraznite ich.“

"Make a sudden, destructive, unpredictable action. Incorporate."

„Urobte niečo náhle, deštruktívne, nepredvídané. Zapracujte to.“

These cards are disruptive.

Tieto karty spôsobujú chaos.

Now, they've proved their worth in album after album.

No album za albumom dokazoval, že majú význam.

The musicians hate them.

Hudobníci ich nenávidia.

(Laughter)

(smiech)

So Phil Collins was playing drums on an early Brian Eno album.

Takže na prvom albume Briana Ena hral na bubny Phil Collins.

He got so frustrated he started throwing beer cans across the studio.

Bol z toho taký frustrovaný, že po štúdiu hádzal plechovky od piva.

Carlos Alomar, great rock guitarist,

Carlos Alomar, skvelý rockový gitarista,

working with Eno on David Bowie's "Lodger" album,

robil s Enom na albume Davida Bowieho, Lodger,

and at one point he turns to Brian and says,

a v istej chvíli sa otočí k Brianovi a vraví:

"Brian, this experiment is stupid."

„Brian, je to fakt blbý experiment.“

But the thing is it was a pretty good album,

Ide však o to, že je to vážne dobrý album,

but also,

a tiež, že

Carlos Alomar, 35 years later, now uses The Oblique Strategies.

Carlos Alomar, o 35 rokov neskôr, sám používa Uhýbavé stratégie.

And he tells his students to use The Oblique Strategies

A hovorí svojim študentom, aby ich používali,

because he's realized something.

lebo si niečo uvedomil.

Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it isn't helping you.

Len preto, že sa vám to nepáči, neznamená to, že vám to nepomáha.

The strategies actually weren't a deck of cards originally,

Pôvodne však tieto stratégie neboli vo forme kariet,

they were just a list --

bol to len zoznam.

list on the recording studio wall.

Zoznam na stene nahrávacieho štúdia,

A checklist of things you might try if you got stuck.

zoznam vecí, čo môžete skúsiť, keď vám dôjdu nápady.

The list didn't work.

Ale zoznam nefungoval.

Know why?

Viete prečo?

Not messy enough.

Málo chaotické.

Your eye would go down the list

Vaše oko by prebehlo zoznam

and it would settle on whatever was the least disruptive,

a zakotvilo by na najjednoduchšej vete,

the least troublesome,

najmenej problematickej,

which of course misses the point entirely.

čo samozrejme úplne stráca význam.

And what Brian Eno came to realize was,

Brian Eno si teda uvedomil,

yes, we need to run the stupid experiments,

áno, musíme robiť tieto blbé experimenty,

we need to deal with the awkward strangers,

musíme si poradiť s podivnými neznámymi,

we need to try to read the ugly fonts.

musíme sa snažiť čítať škaredé písma.

These things help us.

To nám pomáha.

They help us solve problems,

Pomáhajú nám riešiť problémy,

they help us be more creative.

pomáhajú nám byť kreatívnejší.

But also ...

A taktiež...

we really need some persuasion if we're going to accept this.

potrebujeme nejaké presvedčenie, ak to príjmeme.

So however we do it ...

Nech to spravíme akokoľvek...

whether it's sheer willpower,

či už silou vôle,

whether it's the flip of a card

alebo je to zvrat kariet,

or whether it's a guilt trip from a German teenager,

či výčitky svedomia nemeckej tínedžerky,

all of us, from time to time,

každý z nás si občas

need to sit down and try and play the unplayable piano.

musí sadnúť a snažiť sa hrať na nemožnom klavíri.

Thank you.

Ďakujem.

(Applause)

(potlesk)