Why Play Is Essential for Business | Martin Reeves | TED

翻译人员: Shuhui Huang 校对人员: Yanyan Hong

Have you ever trodden on a Lego brick in your bare feet?

你有没有过一不小心 光脚踩在乐高积木上面？

You’re tiptoeing through your lounge late at night,

当你在晚上蹑手蹑脚地走过客厅时，

and suddenly that stabbing pain,

突然脚底一阵钻心的痛，

the expletives

一句脏话就脱口而出。

and the inevitable question:

你问你自己：

“Why do we have so much of this stuff all over the place?”

“为什么到处都是东西？”

Well, that’s really quite simple.

好吧，显而易见，

Your kids love playing with it,

你的孩子喜欢玩玩具，

so you buy more.

家里的玩具就越买越多。

And a confession --

我也承认——

I love to watch my kids play with Lego.

我喜欢看我的孩子玩乐高。

Especially good is when I see them inventing their own rules

没有什么比看着孩子 创造出自己的一套规则

and their own worlds.

和属于他们自己的世界更快乐的了。

So here are my daughters,

这是我的女儿们。

last Saturday,

在上周六，

making something out of different kits

她们显然在造一些东西。

and pieces of string

用着各种各样的玩意儿和一些绳子，

and pieces of wood and dolls and other objects.

木块、娃娃之类的小玩意。

And I asked them, “What is it?”

于是我问她们，“这是什么？”

And they said to me, “Dad, of course it’s a princess flying on a dragon

她们说：“爸爸， 这不明摆着是一个公主骑着龙

飞去纽约拜访农场的动物朋友啊。”

to visit farm animals in New York.”

Of course, what else could it be?

那真的是再明显不过了呢！

Kids at play inspire me.

小孩子的玩耍常常能启发我，

They’re not afraid to ask, “What if”

因为他们不怕去尝试不同的可能性。

and “Why not?”

But what kids implicitly know that adults tend to forget

但有一点是小孩子知道 而大人总忘记的事：

is that play isn’t just about fun.

玩耍并不只是为了开心。

Now, as a biologist, I know that play is spontaneous and pleasurable --

作为一个生物学家， 我知道玩耍会给人带来愉悦——

as you can see by the smiles in this photograph --

你只要看看照片上 这些笑容就知道了——

but also, it accelerates and derisks learning.

但玩耍还能有效地帮助学习，

It helps kids to try out new behaviors,

它能帮助孩子尝试新行为，

to refine those behaviors

并去不断完善这些行为，

and to imagine what is not

以及去畅想那些现在无法实现

but what could be or what will be.

但将来可能会成为的样子。

As a business strategist dealing with adults,

作为一个和成年人打交道的商务顾问，

I still recommend play.

我依然推荐玩耍这个方式。

In fact, play in business is not just possible,

事实上，玩耍这个方式 在商业领域不仅是可行的，

I’d argue that it’s essential

我认为还十分重要，

and even urgent.

甚至可以说是紧迫。

And here’s why.

让我来说说为什么。

Competitive advantage fades away faster than any time in recent memory.

最近几年， 企业的竞争优势的衰弱正在加速。

In the 1980s,

在 1980 年，

if you had a performance edge over your competitors,

假如你公司的业绩优于竞争对手，

you could reasonably expect to continue being a leader for around 10 years,

你可能在接下来的十年里 都是这个行业的领导者。

on average.

But now the half-life of that advantage has shrunk to just one year.

但现在这些竞争优势的有效期 已经缩减到只有一年了，

That means that short-lived success is actually still very common,

这意味着各行业的成功都可能非常的短暂，

but sustained success becomes very hard

而且要保持成功变得异常艰难及罕见，

and very rare.

That means that, actually, reimagination is the new execution.

这也意味着再度创造变成了新常态。

In order to stay on top,

为了保持在领头羊的位置， 或者仅仅是为了不要落后，

or even just to tread water and stay still,

you need to constantly reimagine your business.

你都要不断地有新的想法。

But that’s not so simple

如果你已经有了 一个非常成功的商业模型，

if you already have a highly successful business model.

那这就更不容易了。

We become prisoners of the mental models that underpin our past success.

过去的成功， 会困住我们的想象力。

In fact, I found in dealing with businesses

事实上，我发现在商业上，

that you can’t really stretch your strategy

假如你不放开自己的思维， 你是不可能想出新策略的。

unless you stretch your mind.

Now play is of course a great way of stretching your mind.

玩耍就是一个很好的开阔思维的方式。

Now --

大家不要误会，

I mean, there’d be no mistake,

I’m not suggesting literally

我不是在建议

that executives huddle around a conference table

各位高管在会议桌上玩乐高。

with a big pile of Lego bricks --

although I’ve done that, and that works too.

虽然我这么做过， 而且效果还很不错。

But instead, I’ve created a series of imagination games

但我在这里说的是， 一系列锻炼想象力的游戏

to help executives to stretch their thinking.

来帮助高管们拓展思维。

Would you like to play with me?

你想来跟我一起玩这个游戏吗？

(Audience nods)

（观众点头）

Good, I'm glad you said that.

还好你们同意了

OK, so let’s supposing that you’re stuck in the rut

好，如果你一直都以曾经的成就为标准

来看待这个世界， 并感到没法改变自己的视角。

of seeing the world through the lens of your past and current success.

I would recommend the “Anti-Company Game,”

我建议你玩这个“镜面企业游戏”。

and here’s how it works.

这个游戏是这样的，

You get a piece of paper,

拿一张纸，

you create a list of everything which is essential to your strategy --

列出所有在策略上非常重要的事情——

everything which underpinned your past success,

所有能让你当初如此成功的事情，

everything which is core and sacred --

那些核心而神圣的事。

and then you flip it.

然后你把这些要素给反过来，

You create the exact mirror-image list of assumptions,

列出一张完全相反的表。

and then you make the best business case for this antiself.

然后根据这个镜面列表， 构思出一个你认为最好的商业案例。

You’ll be surprised at the ideas that it triggers.

这所激发的奇思妙想， 会出乎你的意料。

Supposing, for example, that you’re the CEO of a hotel chain

举个例子， 假如你是一家连锁酒店集团的总裁，

and playing the game and flipping the assumptions.

通过这个游戏 你把你所有的成功要素都反过来。

Let’s assume that, inconveniently,

例如，很不幸地，

you don’t actually own any hotels

你不拥有任何酒店甚至房间，

or any rooms

or even operate any hotels or any rooms anywhere.

你甚至连一间酒店都没有管理过。

Ridiculous --

荒谬——

quite possibly --

但也有可能——

but actually, how would you know the difference between ridiculous

老实说，我们有时很难分得清——

and the merely unfamiliar, untried and uncomfortable?

荒谬、陌生、未尝试过的 和让我们不舒服的事的区别。

And who’s to say

谁又敢说

that something that seems impractical can’t actually become and evolve

那些看似不切实际的事， 就不可能变成一个很棒的主意呢？

into a more powerful idea?

Actually, had the executives of hotels played the “Anti-Company Game”

事实上，假如连锁酒店集团的高管 在 2007 年前玩过这个游戏的话，

before 2007,

they might have been able to foresee the appearance of Airbnb,

那他们可能会预见到 爱彼迎 (Airbnb) 的诞生。

the hotel-less hospitality company,

这个旗下没有任何酒店的酒店公司，

and they might have been able to stave off disruption

那这些高管可能已经成功地通过自我改革

by preemptively disrupting themselves.

而安全地度过这行业的巨变。

Let’s play another game:

让我们再玩另一个游戏。

“The Maverick Game.”

那就是“异见者游戏”。

On the edge of your industries --

在你的行业边缘——

on the edge of every industry --

在所有的行业边缘——

are a population of maverick companies

都会有一些特立独行的公司。

that are taking a bet against the incumbents’ business model

他们挑战着现有的商业模型和商业愿景。

and their view of the future.

Actually, they have no choice

事实上，他们别无选择。

because to be a miniature version of the incumbent would not be viable.

因为他们的规模实在太小了， 不这么做的话，他们早晚会被淘汰。

Now, it’s easy not to notice them --

我们会很容易忽视这些公司，

many of them are small companies.

因为他们很多都是小公司，

It's easy to deliberately overlook them with some justification.

所以我们很容易带着偏见去忽略他们。

Many startups disappear fairly quickly after being founded.

许多创业公司成立没多久就倒闭了。

And it’s very, very tempting,

你也很容易，

given all of your experience in the business,

用你的商业经验去检视这些公司。

to judge them.

Do they know what they’re doing?

他们究竟知不知道自己在干什么？

Does their business model make sense?

他们的商业模型究竟行不行得通？

Will they ever make any money?

他们究竟有没有盈利？

But instead of judging them from the comfort

与其站在舒适区内评价他们，

and the confidence of your position,

try assuming that it’s they that have the right bet on the future.

倒不如假设他们对未来的预测是准确的。

Think about the consequences of that for your business model.

设想一下，假如这是你的商业模型 它的结果会是怎么样。

Try making the best case for their idea.

尝试找到能运用他们模式的最佳领域

Supposing, for example,

比如说，你是一家公司的总裁。

that you are the CEO of a company

that makes equipment that makes semiconductors.

你的公司主要生产 用于制造半导体的设备，

Naturally, you’d probably spend most of your time and attention

你自然会关注你的主要客户的行业： 电子工业。

on your main customer industry,

the electronics industry.

And if it so happened,

你应该会注意到， 有一些特立独行的半导体公司

that a couple of maverick bioscience companies

were tinkering with your patents and your technologies,

尝试对你的专利和技术 做出一些细微的改变。

you might overlook that as a distraction,

你很可能并不会把这件事放在心上。

an irrelevance.

But actually, Brooks Automation,

但现实生活中的行业领头羊 金唯智母公司 (Brooks Automation)

a leader in the field,

decided to take a close-up look at such a group of mavericks

就决定认真关注这些公司，

to see whether it could learn anything.

并打算从他们的研究中学习。

And what it realized

当他们从这些公司的角度去看待事情时，

by looking at the world through the eyes of these mavericks

was that, actually, the same techniques

他们发现， 用来制造精密半导体的技术，

and technologies which can be used to handle delicate semiconductors

can also be applied to other fragile and easily contaminated materials,

也能用来处理一些容易被污染的原材料，

like biological samples.

例如生物样本。

And puzzling on the significance of this,

他们并不确定这项技术有多重要，

they reimagined how to handle and store and transport

但他们想象了一下， 如何去利用它来储存、运输、

and label and identify biological samples.

标签以及识别生物样本。

In fact, they became a successful pioneer

事实上，他们已经成为自助生物银行

in the new industry of automated biobanking.

这一新行业的领导者了。

So successful, in fact, that just a couple of days ago,

这一项目如此成功， 以至于几天前，

they announced that this was now their core business moving forwards.

他们刚宣布这个项目 将成为他们的主营业务。

It’s only by focusing on these anomalous mavericks

只有关注了这些与众不同的公司，

that they could see their own path to renewed success and growth.

才能找到通向成功的新道路。

Now, not everything in business goes according to plan.

经营公司的时候， 不是所有的事都会照着计划走。

In fact, sometimes the plans go horribly awry.

现实是，计划甚至会严重走偏。

But you know what?

但你知道吗？

That can be a source of inspiration, too.

这也可以是你灵感的来源。

To find out how,

为了说明这一点， 我们来玩一个叫“事前分析”的游戏。

let’s play the “Pre-Mortem Game.”

So your role in this game is to write ...

你的任务是， 给你的公司写一份破产声明。

the obituary for your company,

which is going to fail with 100 percent certainty

写出那些一定能让你的公司 在五年内破产的事情。

in five years’ time.

What is the cause of death?

直接导致破产的原因是什么？

What will have been the point of failure?

破产的那一刻会发生什么？

Why will it have failed?

为什么会失败？

How will it have failed?

公司是怎么走向失败的？

The challenge here is that it’s easy to be seduced into the baseline fallacy.

但这很容易会导致基线谬误。

The baseline fallacy is the idea

基线谬误就是会让你觉得， 目前的商业模型的风险是最低的。

that it’s the current business model which is the low-risk bet.

And of course that tends to be true

这在当时听起来好像不错，

until it isn’t true,

直到它开始出问题。

at which point it’s probably too late to do anything about it.

而这时你再想去修正 已经来不及了。

Now, your employees are an early-warning indicator.

你的员工其实就是早期的预警信号，

They will have intuitions if the model begins to slip,

他们会很早就察觉到 公司的商业模型开始出问题，

but it’s very hard for them to speak up.

但他们很难发声。

And it’s even taboo for them to speak up

而且当公司经历坎坷的时候， 指出问题会让他们受到责难。

when the business model is under pressure.

But when executives create playgrounds --

但假如公司的高管能给出一个

spaces for the safe exploration of alternatives

能让员工畅所欲言的环境，

and alternative scenarios --

then you get to tap into your employees’ considerable experience

那你就能利用员工宝贵的经验，

about the vulnerabilities

看到公司的弱点、

and the weak spots

存在的缺陷

and the blind spots of your company.

以及公司高管忽视的事情。

Does anyone remember visiting recently one of these gorgeous marble palaces?

你们有谁记得最近参观过这样的 富丽堂皇的大理石宫殿吗？

No?

不记得了？

It’s probably been a while since we visited the local banking branch.

确实，距离人们上次踏足这些银行 地方分行的大厅已经有一段时间了。

Had bricks-and-mortar banks played the “Pre-Mortem Game,”

假如这些实体银行有玩过 这个“事前分析游戏”的话，

perhaps they would have heard their employees expressing some concerns

他们很可能会知道他的员工

about the gradually dwindling flow of customers to local branches.

对支行客流量减少的担忧，

And perhaps they would have been slightly less taken by surprise

这样的话， 当像 NewBank 这种数字银行

when companies like NewBank,

迅速抓住机会，

说服了至今有超过四千万名的 拉丁美洲的客户

a digital native,

seized, very rapidly indeed, on that opportunity

to convince, to date, more than 40 million Latin Americans

抛弃过时的传统银行交易的时候，

that in-person transactions in real buildings

were a quaint but obsolete relic of the past.

他们应该就不会如此惊讶了。

It’s only when you bring your vulnerabilities into full view

只有当你清楚看到自己的弱点的时候，

in this way

that you may be motivated to reimagine your business

你才会认真地想改善你的公司。

and to do so in a robust manner.

It’s why the Roman Catholic Church invented the role,

这也是为什么罗马天主教廷

the position of the Devil’s advocate in the 16th century

在十六世纪设立了魔鬼代言人 （Devil’s advocate）这一个职位，

to test the future consequences of its decisions to appoint new saints.

去预测任命不同圣徒 所可能产生的结果，

They did that by imagining

他们的预测是通过 在领会上帝的旨意之外，

what would Satan say

or propose

or counterpropose,

想象魔鬼可能说的话、

in addition to the normal procedure of thinking about the big man upstairs.

提的建议或反对的意见来实现的。

Now, any human being, any employee, any team

所有人、员工、团队

and therefore any company can harness human imagination.

以及所有公司都能尽情利用自己的想象力。

It’s a defining trait of our species.

这是人类独有的一个能力。

Failures to imagine in business are really failures of leadership.

在商业中没办法发挥想象力， 就意味着在领导上的失败。

Business is a serious matter, but it should not exclude play.

商业是一件非常严肃的事， 但这并不意味着就不能玩耍。

When leaders embrace play and imagination games,

当领导者能接受玩耍 以及想象力游戏的时候，

they can unlock the imagination of their employees,

那他们就能成功激发员工的想象力，

uncover disruptive new strategies

提出颠覆性的新策略，

and renew their lease on the future.

以及保住他们未来的工作。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）