The surprising habits of original thinkers | Adam Grant | TED

翻译人员: Hancheng Li 校对人员: Jiawei Ni

Seven years ago, a student came to me and asked me to invest in his company.

七年前，一个学生找到我， 请求我为他们的公司投资。

He said, "I'm working with three friends,

他说，“我和三位朋友合作，

and we're going to try to disrupt an industry by selling stuff online."

我们要在网上卖东西， 然后颠覆整个行业。”

And I said, "OK, you guys spent the whole summer on this, right?"

然后我说，“好吧， 你们整个夏天都在做这个，对吧？”

"No, we all took internships just in case it doesn't work out."

“没有啊，我们都参加了实习， 以防万一它没有成功。”

"All right, but you're going to go in full time once you graduate."

”好吧，但是你们毕业之后 要全职投入在这个项目中啊。“

"Not exactly. We've all lined up backup jobs."

”不完全对吧。 我们都想好了备选的工作。“

Six months go by,

六个月过去了，

it's the day before the company launches,

他们的公司还有一天就开张了，

and there is still not a functioning website.

但是他们的网站还不能正常运营。

"You guys realize, the entire company is a website.

“你们这些家伙要知道， 整个公司就是一个网站，

That's literally all it is."

网站就是公司的全部。”

So I obviously declined to invest.

所以显然我拒绝了给他们投资。

And they ended up naming the company Warby Parker.

最后他们把公司 命名为“瓦比·帕克”。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

They sell glasses online.

他们在网上销售眼镜。

They were recently recognized as the world's most innovative company

他们最近被认定为 世界上最有创新力的企业，

and valued at over a billion dollars.

估值超过十亿美金。

And now? My wife handles our investments.

结果现在呢？ 我的妻子接管了所有投资项目。

Why was I so wrong?

为什么我犯了这么大的错误？

To find out, I've been studying people that I come to call "originals."

为了弄明白这点，我开始研究 一些我称为“原创者”的人。

Originals are nonconformists,

原创者不墨守成规，

people who not only have new ideas

他们不仅有崭新的想法，

but take action to champion them.

也通过实践去捍卫它们。

They are people who stand out and speak up.

他们从人群中脱颖而出、畅所欲言。

Originals drive creativity and change in the world.

原创者驱动着全世界的创造与变革。

They're the people you want to bet on.

你敢于在他们身上下注。

And they look nothing like I expected.

他们看起来与我的想象完全不同。

I want to show you today three things I've learned

我想与各位分享

about recognizing originals

我对原创者所了解的三点内容，

and becoming a little bit more like them.

以及自己努力成为其中之一的经历。

So the first reason that I passed on Warby Parker

我拒绝瓦比·帕克的第一个原因

was they were really slow getting off the ground.

就是他们走出第一步的速度 实在太慢了。

Now, you are all intimately familiar with the mind of a procrastinator.

我相信各位非常熟悉 拖延症患者的大脑里的情景。

Well, I have a confession for you. I'm the opposite. I'm a precrastinator.

好吧，我得向大家承认： 我与之相反，是个“提早症”患者。

Yes, that's an actual term.

对，那个词是存在的。

You know that panic you feel a few hours before a big deadline

你们都知道那种恐慌的感受： 最后期限还有几个小时就到了，

when you haven't done anything yet.

然而你还什么都没做。

I just feel that a few months ahead of time.

我只是在几个月之前就有这感觉了。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So this started early: when I was a kid, I took Nintendo games very seriously.

这很早就开始了：我还小的时候， 我很认真地对待任天堂游戏。

I would wake up at 5am,

我会在早上5点醒来，

start playing and not stop until I had mastered them.

开始打游戏， 在打通关之前绝不休息。

Eventually it got so out of hand that a local newspaper came

最后我彻底失去了控制， 以至于当地的一家报纸找到我，

and did a story on the dark side of Nintendo, starring me.

然后写了篇故事， 讲述任天堂的黑暗面，主角就是我。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

(Applause)

（掌声）

Since then, I have traded hair for teeth.

我的年龄都是用掉光的头发换来的。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

But this served me well in college,

但是这在大学里反倒帮了我，

because I finished my senior thesis four months before the deadline.

因为我在最后期限之前四个月 就完成了我的毕业论文。

And I was proud of that, until a few years ago.

我对此非常自豪，直到几年之前。

I had a student named Jihae, who came to me and said,

我有一个名叫吉哈的学生， 她对我说，

"I have my most creative ideas when I'm procrastinating."

“我在犯拖延症的时候 想到了最有创造力的点子。”

And I was like, "That's cute, where are the four papers you owe me?"

然后我的反应就是，“很有意思， 你欠我的四篇论文在哪里？”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

No, she was one of our most creative students,

不，她是我最有创造力的学生之一，

and as an organizational psychologist, this is the kind of idea that I test.

作为一位组织心理学家， 这是我要测试的一些想法。

So I challenged her to get some data.

我向她提出挑战，让她找些数据。

She goes into a bunch of companies.

她跑过了一大堆公司。

She has people fill out surveys about how often they procrastinate.

她让员工填了问卷， 了解他们多经常犯拖延症。

Then she gets their bosses to rate how creative and innovative they are.

之后她让他们的老板 评估每个人的创造力水平。

And sure enough, the precrastinators like me,

不出所料，像我这样的提早症患者，

who rush in and do everything early

他们急匆匆把所有事做完，

are rated as less creative

他们的创造力不如

than people who procrastinate moderately.

一些中度的拖延症患者。

So I want to know what happens to the chronic procrastinators.

我很想知道 重度拖延症患者是怎样的。

She was like, "I don't know. They didn't fill out my survey."

她回答我，“我不知道啊。 他们没填我的问卷。”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

No, here are our results.

开个玩笑。这是我们的结论。

You actually do see that the people who wait until the last minute

你的确可以看到， 不到最后一刻不做事的人

are so busy goofing off that they don't have any new ideas.

大部分时间都是混过去的， 他们根本没法产生新想法。

And on the flip side, the people who race in

在另外一侧， 那些把事情匆忙做完的人

are in such a frenzy of anxiety that they don't have original thoughts either.

一直处在狂暴的焦虑状态， 他们也没法产生新想法。

There's a sweet spot where originals seem to live.

在中间似乎有一个恰好的点， 这就是原创者聚集的地方。

Why is this?

为什么会这样呢？

Maybe original people just have bad work habits.

可能只是原创者工作习惯不好。

Maybe procrastinating does not cause creativity.

可能拖延症并不直接引发创造力。

To find out, we designed some experiments.

为了研究这点，我们设计了些实验。

We asked people to generate new business ideas,

我们要求受试者 想一些新的商业计划，

and then we get independent readers

然后我们让独立的第三方

to evaluate how creative and useful they are.

评估受试者的创造力和实践力。

And some of them are asked to do the task right away.

有些人被要求立即着手做这个任务。

Others we randomly assign to procrastinate

另外一些人被 随机地要求拖延一阵子，

by dangling Minesweeper in front of them

在他们电脑上开个扫雷游戏，

for either five or 10 minutes.

让他们玩5或10分钟。

And sure enough, the moderate procrastinators

不出所料，中度拖延者

are 16 percent more creative than the other two groups.

比另外两组受试者 创造力高出16%。

Now, Minesweeper is awesome, but it's not the driver of the effect,

扫雷是很棒的游戏， 但不是导致这个效应的真正原因，

because if you play the game first before you learn about the task,

因为如果你在了解任务之前 就去玩游戏，

there's no creativity boost.

是没有创造力加成的。

It's only when you're told that you're going to be working on this problem,

只有在你被告知 你要完成某一项任务之后，

and then you start procrastinating,

然后你开始拖延，

but the task is still active in the back of your mind,

任务的想法还活跃在你脑海里，

that you start to incubate.

这时才会产生新想法。

Procrastination gives you time to consider divergent ideas,

拖延行为让你有时间发散性思考，

to think in nonlinear ways, to make unexpected leaps.

以非线性的模式思考， 然后获得意想不到的突破。

So just as we were finishing these experiments,

正当我要完成这些实验时，

I was starting to write a book about originals,

我开始写一本有关原创者的书，

and I thought, "This is the perfect time to teach myself to procrastinate,

我在想，“这是最佳时机了， 现在我就在写有关拖延症的章节，

while writing a chapter on procrastination."

我要教教自己如何拖延。”

So I metaprocrastinated,

结果我拖延得很古怪，

and like any self-respecting precrastinator,

像任何一位自尊心很强的 提早症患者一样，

I woke up early the next morning

我第二天早早醒来，

and I made a to-do list with steps on how to procrastinate.

写了一份待办清单， 里面是拖延的详细步骤。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And then I worked diligently

然后我刻苦工作，

toward my goal of not making progress toward my goal.

努力达到我“不取得任何进展”的目标。

I started writing the procrastination chapter,

我开始写有关拖延症的章节，

and one day -- I was halfway through --

然后有一天，我已经写完一半了，

I literally put it away in mid-sentence

我在写了半句话之后就放下笔，

for months.

持续了几个月。

It was agony.

这简直是煎熬。

But when I came back to it, I had all sorts of new ideas.

但当我重新提起笔时， 我满脑子里都是新想法。

As Aaron Sorkin put it,

正如阿兰·索金所说，

"You call it procrastinating. I call it thinking."

“你把它叫做‘拖延’， 我把它叫做‘思考’。”

And along the way I discovered

这个过程中，我发现

that a lot of great originals in history were procrastinators.

历史上很多伟大的原创者 都是拖延症患者。

Take Leonardo da Vinci.

比如列奥纳多·达·芬奇。

He toiled on and off for 16 years

他断断续续工作了16年，

on the Mona Lisa.

画了一幅《蒙娜丽莎》。

He felt like a failure.

他觉得很失败。

He wrote as much in his journal.

他在日志里倾诉了很多。

But some of the diversions he took in optics

但是他在其他时间里 对光学的研究，

transformed the way that he modeled light

大大改变了他塑造光效的方式，

and made him into a much better painter.

让他成为了一个更出色的画家。

What about Martin Luther King, Jr.?

马丁·路德·金又如何呢？

The night before the biggest speech of his life,

他一生中最重要的演讲之前的晚上，

the March on Washington,

那是三月，在华盛顿州，

he was up past 3am, rewriting it.

他凌晨三点还醒着，完善他的讲稿。

He's sitting in the audience waiting for his turn to go onstage,

轮到自己上台前，他坐在观众席里，

and he is still scribbling notes and crossing out lines.

还在演讲稿上奋笔疾书。

When he gets onstage, 11 minutes in,

当他走上台，过了11分钟，

he leaves his prepared remarks

他没按照准备的内容来讲，

to utter four words that changed the course of history:

却念出了改变历史进程的几个字：

"I have a dream."

“我有一个梦想。”

That was not in the script.

这不是写在稿子里的。

By delaying the task of finalizing the speech until the very last minute,

通过尽可能推迟 演讲稿最终确定的那一刻，

he left himself open to the widest range of possible ideas.

他可以随时向其中添加任何的想法。

And because the text wasn't set in stone,

而正因为讲稿不是固定不变的，

he had freedom to improvise.

他就有了即兴发挥的自由。

Procrastinating is a vice when it comes to productivity,

拖延症会导致生产力的下降，

but it can be a virtue for creativity.

但也可能会是新创造的摇篮。

What you see with a lot of great originals

各位在原创者身上看到的特质，

is that they are quick to start but they're slow to finish.

就是他们开头做得很快， 最终完成却要很久。

And this is what I missed with Warby Parker.

这就是我错过瓦比·帕克的一点原因。

When they were dragging their heels for six months,

当他们拖拖拉拉六个月之后，

I looked at them and said,

我对他们说：

"You know, a lot of other companies are starting to sell glasses online."

“你们知道，很多其他公司 已经开始在线销售眼镜了。”

They missed the first-mover advantage.

他们失去了先动者优势。

But what I didn't realize was they were spending all that time

但是我没有意识到， 他们在那一大段时间里

trying to figure out how to get people

都在研究如何提高 顾客在线购买眼镜的舒适度。

to be comfortable ordering glasses online.

And it turns out the first-mover advantage is mostly a myth.

后来我才发现， 先动者优势其实只是个流言。

Look at a classic study of over 50 product categories,

有一个很经典的研究项目， 调查了超过50个类别的商品，

comparing the first movers who created the market

将开辟市场的先动者，

with the improvers who introduced something different and better.

与改进市场的改变者相比较。

What you see is that the first movers had a failure rate of 47 percent,

你可以看到， 先动者的失败率是47%，

compared with only 8 percent for the improvers.

与之相比，改变者失败率只有8%。

Look at Facebook, waiting to build a social network

让我们看看Facebook， 它想在Myspace和Friendster之后

until after Myspace and Friendster.

打造一个新的社交网络。

Look at Google, waiting for years after Altavista and Yahoo.

再看看谷歌，等待了很多年， 才在AltaVista和雅虎之后面世。

It's much easier to improve on somebody else's idea

改进其他人的想法

than it is to create something new from scratch.

比从零开始创造想法要更简单。

So the lesson I learned is that to be original you don't have to be first.

我从中学到的就是： 想做原创者，你不必最先行动。

You just have to be different and better.

你只需要做得不同、做得更好。

But that wasn't the only reason I passed on Warby Parker.

但这不是我 拒绝瓦比·帕克的唯一理由。

They were also full of doubts.

他们自己充满困惑。

They had backup plans lined up,

他们准备了一系列后备方案，

and that made me doubt that they had the courage to be original,

这让我十分怀疑 他们是否具有原创的勇气，

because I expected that originals would look something like this.

因为我对原创者的想象 大概是这样的。

（笑声） [我不知道怎么说…反正我觉得我挺牛的]

(Laughter)

Now, on the surface,

从表面上看，

a lot of original people look confident,

很多的原创者看上去很自信，

but behind the scenes,

但是在背后，

they feel the same fear and doubt that the rest of us do.

他们也像所有人一样， 感受恐惧和疑虑。

They just manage it differently.

他们只是以不同方式来面对。

Let me show you: this is a depiction

让我展示一下：这是个流程图，

of how the creative process works for most of us.

讲述了大部分人的创造过程 是如何进行的。

[1.这超给力！2.这有点难。3.这超烂。 4.我超烂。5.这或许能行。6.这超给力！]

(Laughter)

Now, in my research, I discovered there are two different kinds of doubt.

在我的研究中， 我发现两种不同的疑虑。

自我疑虑，以及想法疑虑。

There's self-doubt and idea doubt.

Self-doubt is paralyzing.

自我疑虑会使人麻痹。

It leads you to freeze.

它让你思维冻结。

But idea doubt is energizing.

但是想法疑虑是激励性的。

It motivates you to test, to experiment, to refine,

它促使你去测试、实验、改进，

just like MLK did.

就像马丁·路德·金一样。

And so the key to being original

所以说做原创者的关键，

is just a simple thing

其实非常简单，

of avoiding the leap from step three to step four.

就是避免从第三步走到第四步。

Instead of saying, "I'm crap,"

你不去说“我超烂”，

you say, "The first few drafts are always crap,

而是说“最初的想法都是超烂的，

and I'm just not there yet."

我只是还没做完而已。”

So how do you get there?

所以你怎样继续做呢？

Well, there's a clue, it turns out,

其实我发现有一个小事，

in the Internet browser that you use.

有关你用的网页浏览器。

We can predict your job performance and your commitment

我们可以预测你的 工作表现或是责任承担情况，

just by knowing what web browser you use.

只需要了解你用哪款浏览器。

Now, some of you are not going to like the results of this study --

你们中有些人肯定不会喜欢 这个研究的结果——

(Laughter)

（笑声）

But there is good evidence that Firefox and Chrome users

但是我们找到了确凿证据， 说明火狐和谷歌Chrome用户

significantly outperform Internet Explorer and Safari users.

表现显著好于 IE浏览器和Safari用户。

Yes.

好耶！

(Applause)

（掌声）

They also stay in their jobs 15 percent longer, by the way.

顺便提一句， 他们的在职时间也要长15%。

Why? It's not a technical advantage.

为什么？这不是一个技术性的优势。

The four browser groups on average have similar typing speed

用这四种浏览器的人 平均打字速度差不多，

and they also have similar levels of computer knowledge.

而且他们都对电脑 有相同程度的了解。

It's about how you got the browser.

这有关你如何获取这些浏览器。

Because if you use Internet Explorer or Safari,

因为如果你用IE或者Safari，

those came preinstalled on your computer,

那些已经预装在电脑上了，

and you accepted the default option that was handed to you.

你自然接受了厂商提供的默认选择。

If you wanted Firefox or Chrome, you had to doubt the default

如果你想换火狐或Chrome， 你得要质疑默认选择，

and ask, is there a different option out there,

问问自己，是否有其他选择，

and then be a little resourceful and download a new browser.

然后就稍稍随机应变一下， 去下载个新的浏览器。

So people hear about this study and they're like,

所以听说这个研究的人反应就是，

"Great, if I want to get better at my job, I just need to upgrade my browser?"

“棒极了，如果我想工作得更好， 我只需要升级下浏览器就行了？”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

No, it's about being the kind of person

不对，这与你是什么样的人有关，

who takes the initiative to doubt the default

你是否主动地去质疑默认选项，

and look for a better option.

然后寻找一个更好的选择。

And if you do that well,

而且如果你找得不错，

you will open yourself up to the opposite of déjà vu.

你就将自己置于 “似曾相识”感的对立面。

There's a name for it. It's called vuja de.

它其实有个名字， 叫做“识相曾似”感。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Vuja de is when you look at something you've seen many times before

“识相曾似”感的意思是， 你再次面对一个无比熟悉的事物，

and all of a sudden see it with fresh eyes.

但是突然用一种新的眼光去看待。

It's a screenwriter who looks at a movie script

有个电影剧本作家， 她看着一份电影剧本，

that can't get the green light for more than half a century.

它超过半个世纪都没被获准拍摄。

In every past version, the main character has been an evil queen.

在之前的每一个版本里， 故事主角都是个邪恶的女王。

But Jennifer Lee starts to question whether that makes sense.

但是这位詹妮弗·李开始思考 这个想法是否合理。

She rewrites the first act,

她重写了第一幕，

reinvents the villain as a tortured hero

把那个恶棍重新塑造成 一位受尽苦难的英雄，

and Frozen becomes the most successful animated movie ever.

于是《冰雪奇缘》成为了 历史上最卖座的动画电影之一。

So there's a simple message from this story.

这个故事传递了一个简单的信息。

When you feel doubt, don't let it go.

当你感到困惑，切勿“随它去吧”。 （"Let it go"是电影主题曲名）

(Laughter)

（笑声）

What about fear?

恐惧又如何呢？

Originals feel fear, too.

原创者也会感到恐惧。

They're afraid of failing,

他们害怕失败，

but what sets them apart from the rest of us

但是他们与我们其他人所不同的是，

is that they're even more afraid of failing to try.

他们更害怕不去尝试。

They know you can fail by starting a business that goes bankrupt

他们知道可以因 创业公司倒闭而失败，

or by failing to start a business at all.

他们更知道可以因 不尝试创业而失败。

They know that in the long run, our biggest regrets are not our actions

他们知道，从长远来看， 我们最大的悔恨不是自己做了什么，

but our inactions.

而是自己没做什么。

The things we wish we could redo, if you look at the science,

就科学这个领域， 有些事我们希望能重做一遍，

are the chances not taken.

就是把握溜走的机会。

Elon Musk told me recently, he didn't expect Tesla to succeed.

埃隆·马斯克最近告诉我， 他并不指望特斯拉会成功。

He was sure the first few SpaceX launches

他非常确信， SpaceX公司的前几次发射

would fail to make it to orbit, let alone get back,

一定不会进入预定轨道， 更不会重新回收，

but it was too important not to try.

但是不去尝试才是最失败的。

And for so many of us, when we have an important idea,

对于我们中的大多数人， 当我们有一个重大的想法，

we don't bother to try.

我们往往懒得尝试。

But I have some good news for you.

但是我有些好消息。

You are not going to get judged on your bad ideas.

他人衡量你的标准不是你的坏主意。

A lot of people think they will.

很多人都以为是这样的。

If you look across industries

当你走访各大行业，

and ask people about their biggest idea, their most important suggestion,

然后问问其中的人， 他们最重大的想法、建议是什么，

85 percent of them stayed silent instead of speaking up.

85%的人保持沉默，不敢发声。

They were afraid of embarrassing themselves, of looking stupid.

他们害怕自己难为情、看上去很蠢。

But guess what? Originals have lots and lots of bad ideas,

但是你猜怎么着？ 原创者有很多的糟糕想法，

tons of them, in fact.

事实上是一大堆。

Take the guy who invented this.

举个例子，发明这个的人。

Do you care that he came up with a talking doll so creepy

你会在意他发明了这个 超恐怖的会讲话的洋娃娃吗？

that it scared not only kids but adults, too?

这个玩意儿不止吓到小孩， 还吓坏了成年人啊。

No. You celebrate Thomas Edison for pioneering the light bulb.

不会！你歌颂托马斯·爱迪生， 因为他发明了灯泡。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

If you look across fields,

如果你研究各个领域，

the greatest originals are the ones who fail the most,

伟大的原创者是那些失败最多的人，

because they're the ones who try the most.

因为他们是尝试得最多的人。

Take classical composers, the best of the best.

以一些最好的古典作曲家为例。

Why do some of them get more pages in encyclopedias than others

为什么有些人在百科全书里 内容比其他人多，

and also have their compositions rerecorded more times?

而且他们的作品被重新录制更多遍？

One of the best predictors

其中一个最好的预测，

is the sheer volume of compositions that they generate.

就是他们产出的作品的量有多大。

The more output you churn out, the more variety you get

你产生的输出越大， 你的作品种类越多，

and the better your chances of stumbling on something truly original.

你就越有可能做出 一些真正原创的东西。

Even the three icons of classical music -- Bach, Beethoven, Mozart --

即使是三位古典音乐伟人—— 巴赫、贝多芬、莫扎特，

had to generate hundreds and hundreds of compositions

都必须写出数百份作品，

to come up with a much smaller number of masterpieces.

才能获得相当少量的杰作。

Now, you may be wondering,

你们可能在想，

how did this guy become great without doing a whole lot?

这个家伙没做多少事， 又是怎么获得成功的呢？

I don't know how Wagner pulled that off.

我不知道瓦格纳怎么做到的。

But for most of us, if we want to be more original,

但是对于大部分人， 如果我们想要变得更有原创性，

we have to generate more ideas.

我们必须大开脑洞。

The Warby Parker founders, when they were trying to name their company,

瓦比·帕克的创始人， 当他们思考如何命名公司的时候，

they needed something sophisticated, unique, with no negative associations

他们想要找相对复杂、特别的词， 而且没有负面的歧义，

to build a retail brand,

以此打造一个零售品牌，

and they tested over 2,000 possibilities

他们尝试了超过两千种可能性，

before they finally put together

最后才找到两个词拼在一起：

Warby and Parker.

“瓦比”和“帕克”。

So if you put all this together, what you see is that originals

如果你综合来看， 你会发现原创者

are not that different from the rest of us.

与我们其他人差别并不是那么大。

They feel fear and doubt. They procrastinate.

他们也会害怕、疑虑。 他们犯拖延症。

They have bad ideas.

他们有糟糕的想法。

And sometimes, it's not in spite of those qualities but because of them

有时，这些品质并不妨碍他们，

而是正因这些，他们才能成功。

that they succeed.

So when you see those things, don't make the same mistake I did.

所以当你们看到这些时， 千万别犯像我这样的错误。

Don't write them off.

不要无视他们。

And when that's you, don't count yourself out either.

如果这个人是你， 你也别无视了自己。

Know that being quick to start but slow to finish

你要知道， 快速地开始、缓慢地结束

can boost your creativity,

可以提升你的创造力，

that you can motivate yourself by doubting your ideas

你可以通过质疑自己的想法 来激励自己，

and embracing the fear of failing to try,

勇敢地面对放弃尝试的恐惧感，

and that you need a lot of bad ideas in order to get a few good ones.

并且知道自己想到很多坏主意后 才能获得几个好主意。

Look, being original is not easy,

做原创者并不容易，

but I have no doubt about this:

但是我对此深信不疑：

it's the best way to improve the world around us.

这是改变我们周围世界的最好方式。

Thank you.

谢谢各位。

(Applause)

（掌声）