Why Play Is Essential for Business | Martin Reeves | TED

Translator: Tracy Hui Reviewer: Thomas Tam

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

你有冇試過赤腳 踩落樂高嘅積木度？

You’re tiptoeing through your lounge late at night,

深夜靜靜雞喺客廳到行

and suddenly that stabbing pain,

突然間感覺強烈嘅刺痛

the expletives

啲粗口

and the inevitable question:

同埋避唔開嘅問題：

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

「點解我哋周圍有咁多積木？」

Well, that’s really quite simple.

其實答案好簡單

Your kids love playing with it,

係你哋啲小朋友鍾意玩

so you buy more.

所以你買多咗

And a confession --

我承認

I love to watch my kids play with Lego.

鐘意睇住啲小朋友玩樂高積木

Especially good is when I see them inventing their own rules

由其係當佢地研發到自己嘅規矩

and their own worlds.

同個人嘅世界

So here are my daughters,

我啲女

last Saturday,

就上個星期六

making something out of different kits

用咗唔同嘅工具包

and pieces of string

繩子、木頭、公仔同其他物品

and pieces of wood and dolls and other objects.

我問佢哋：「呢個咩嚟㗎？」

And I asked them, “What is it?”

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

佢哋話，「爸爸，呢個梗係 坐喺恐龍上嘅公主啦﹗

to visit farm animals in New York.”

佢飛緊去紐約睇農場嘅動物。」

Of course, what else could it be?

當然，佢仲可以係咩嘢？

玩緊嘅小朋友俾到靈感我

Kids at play inspire me.

They’re not afraid to ask, “What if”

佢哋唔會驚去問「如果」

and “Why not?”

同埋「點解唔得」

But what kids implicitly know that adults tend to forget

大人成日都會唔記得

is that play isn’t just about fun.

但係小朋友知道 玩唔單止為咗好玩

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

依家，作為生物學家 我知道玩係即興同享受嘅 ——

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

你係呢張相見到啲笑容 ——

but also, it accelerates and derisks learning.

佢哋嘅學習係加快咗 而且仲冇咗風險

It helps kids to try out new behaviors,

玩遊戲幫啲小朋友嘗試新行為

to refine those behaviors

細化呢啲行為

and to imagine what is not

同想像嗰啲唔係乜嘢

but what could be or what will be.

但可能係乜嘢 抑或將會係乜嘢

As a business strategist dealing with adults,

作為商業策略家 同大人做嘢

I still recommend play.

我仍然建議去玩

In fact, play in business is not just possible,

喺商業度玩遊戲 實在唔單止係可行

I’d argue that it’s essential

我會話係必須嘅

and even urgent.

甚至係緊急嘅

And here’s why.

點解呢？

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

最近，競爭優勢 比任何時候都消失得仲快

In the 1980s,

喺 1980 年代

if you had a performance edge over your competitors,

如果你比競爭者有性能嘅優勢

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

你可合理噉預咗平均做多 10 年嘅領袖

on average.

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

但係依家嗰啲優勢 半衰期就縮到一年

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

亦代表著短暫嘅成功係好普遍

but sustained success becomes very hard

但係要保持成功係好難

and very rare.

仲好罕見

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

亦即係話，重新構想 係依家要執行嘅嘢

In order to stay on top,

要維持喺頂峰

or even just to tread water and stay still,

或者只係原地踏步唔喐

you need to constantly reimagine your business.

你需要不停噉重新構想你嘅生意

如果你已經有個 好成功嘅生意模式

But that’s not so simple

if you already have a highly successful business model.

就唔係噉簡單喇

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

我哋為咗鞏固過往嘅成功 被限制喺一個心理模式

In fact, I found in dealing with businesses

事實上，我發現做生意

that you can’t really stretch your strategy

如果你唔絞盡腦汁

好難去擴展你嘅策略

unless you stretch your mind.

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

玩遊戲——當然係擴展腦力嘅好方法

Now --

I mean, there’d be no mistake,

唔好搞錯

I’m not suggesting literally

我唔係建議你哋

that executives huddle around a conference table

領導階層喺會議室圍埋喺張枱

with a big pile of Lego bricks --

擺滿樂高積木 ——

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

雖然我做過，亦都係可行嘅

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

我曾經整過一連串嘅想像遊戲

to help executives to stretch their thinking.

幫領導層擴充佢哋嘅思維

Would you like to play with me?

你想唔想同我玩？

(Audience nods)

（觀眾點頭）

Good, I'm glad you said that.

好，我好開心你哋噉講

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

你被困喺老套嘅鏡頭

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

睇過去同現在嘅世界

我會建議玩 「反公司遊戲」

I would recommend the “Anti-Company Game,”

and here’s how it works.

佢係點樣玩㗎呢

You get a piece of paper,

你有一張紙

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

你整個清單， 列出對你策略重要嘅嘢

everything which underpinned your past success,

撐住過去成功嘅一切

everything which is core and sacred --

所有關鍵同神聖嘅嘢 ——

and then you flip it.

再反轉諗佢哋

You create the exact mirror-image list of assumptions,

列出另一張反向假設嘅清單

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

然後你幫呢個反我策略 做最佳嘅商業案例

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

你會驚訝呢個遊戲觸發嘅想法

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

假如，你係間連鎖酒店嘅老闆

and playing the game and flipping the assumptions.

玩呢個遊戲同埋做反轉嘅假設

Let’s assume that, inconveniently,

假如你唔方便

you don’t actually own any hotels

其實冇擁有任何酒店

抑或任何房間

or any rooms

or even operate any hotels or any rooms anywhere.

甚至冇喺任何地方 經營任何酒店或房間

Ridiculous --

係好荒謬 ——

quite possibly --

係好有可能 ——

but actually, how would you know the difference between ridiculous

但係其實你點樣知道係荒謬嘅

就淨係唔熟悉 又未試過同感覺到唔舒服？

and the merely unfamiliar, untried and uncomfortable?

And who’s to say

邊個話

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

睇起嚟不切實際嘅嘢 實際上不能演化成

into a more powerful idea?

更強大嘅想法？

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

其實，如果酒店嘅領導層 係 2007 年之前

before 2007,

玩過「反公司遊戲」

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

佢哋可能會預先知到 Airbnb 嘅出現

the hotel-less hospitality company,

沒有酒店嘅酒店服務公司

and they might have been able to stave off disruption

佢哋已經能夠先發製人

by preemptively disrupting themselves.

避免 Airbnb 破壞

Let’s play another game:

玩第二個遊戲

“The Maverick Game.”

「非正統遊戲」

On the edge of your industries --

喺你行業嘅邊緣 ——

on the edge of every industry --

喺每個行業嘅邊緣 ——

are a population of maverick companies

都有一啲初創嘅公司

that are taking a bet against the incumbents’ business model

佢哋喺度對賭

係跟現有公司嘅模型 同對未來嘅睇法

and their view of the future.

實在佢哋冇得選擇

Actually, they have no choice

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

因為成為現有模式嘅 袖珍版係唔會掂

Now, it’s easy not to notice them --

你好容易忽略咗佢哋——

many of them are small companies.

好多都係細公司

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

好容易用啲理由故意忽略咗佢哋

Many startups disappear fairly quickly after being founded.

好多剛起步嘅小企業好快就會消失

And it’s very, very tempting,

喺好易誘導你

given all of your experience in the business,

用你做生意嘅所有經驗

to judge them.

批評佢哋

Do they know what they’re doing?

佢哋做緊咩？

Does their business model make sense?

商業模型有乜義意？

Will they ever make any money?

佢哋會唔會賺錢？

But instead of judging them from the comfort

但係與其舒舒服服喺你嗰位

and the confidence of your position,

好自信噉批評佢哋

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

試吓假設佢哋對將來睇啱咗

Think about the consequences of that for your business model.

然後諗吓你生意模型嘅後果

Try making the best case for their idea.

為咗佢哋嘅諗法 整理出最佳嘅情況

Supposing, for example,

假如

that you are the CEO of a company

你係間公司嘅首席執行官

that makes equipment that makes semiconductors.

公司製造半導體嘅設備

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

你好自然會花好多時間同精力

on your main customer industry,

喺你主要客戶嘅行業

the electronics industry.

係電子行業

And if it so happened,

如果真嘅發生咗

that a couple of maverick bioscience companies

有幾間初創嘅生物科學公司

were tinkering with your patents and your technologies,

修補緊你嘅專利同科技

you might overlook that as a distraction,

你可能當係種干擾

an irrelevance.

忽略咗佢，覺得唔關事

But actually, Brooks Automation,

但布魯克斯自動化公司

a leader in the field,

係電子業嘅領袖

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

決定睇真吓

喺嗰啲初創公司冇嘢可以學到

to see whether it could learn anything.

And what it realized

佢哋做咗啲乜

by looking at the world through the eyes of these mavericks

透過佢哋嘅眼光望向呢個世界

was that, actually, the same techniques

實際上係唔係相同嘅技術

and technologies which can be used to handle delicate semiconductors

技術可應用到處理精密半導體

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

亦可應用到其他脆弱 同容易受污染嘅物質

like biological samples.

好似生物樣本噉

And puzzling on the significance of this,

唔係好明呢樣野

they reimagined how to handle and store and transport

佢哋重新想像點樣處理 儲存同運送

and label and identify biological samples.

標籤同分辦生物樣本

In fact, they became a successful pioneer

事實上，佢哋成功噉成為先驅

in the new industry of automated biobanking.

喺嶄新自動生物銀行業度

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

實在好成功，就喺幾天前

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

佢哋宣佈呢個係依家 發展嘅核心業務

It’s only by focusing on these anomalous mavericks

只有專注喺呢啲異常初創嘅企業

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

佢哋先睇到可以重新成長同成功嘅路向

Now, not everything in business goes according to plan.

喺商務度 唔係所有嘢都可以跟住計劃做

In fact, sometimes the plans go horribly awry.

有陣時計劃錯得好離譜

But you know what?

但你知唔知？

That can be a source of inspiration, too.

呢個都可以係靈感嘅泉源

To find out how,

要知點做

let’s play the “Pre-Mortem Game.”

等我哋玩吓「驗屍前遊戲」

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

你喺呢個遊戲嘅角色係去寫……

the obituary for your company,

你公司嘅訃告

which is going to fail with 100 percent certainty

間公司將會喺五年內

in five years’ time.

100% 肯定會失敗

What is the cause of death?

咩嘢原因導致佢嘅死亡？

What will have been the point of failure?

失敗嘅重點喺邊度？

Why will it have failed?

點解會失敗呢？

How will it have failed?

點樣會失敗嘅呢？

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

呢個挑戰係好容易 受基本比率謬誤所誤導

The baseline fallacy is the idea

謬誤係指

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

經營依家嘅商業模型係低風險賭注

And of course that tends to be true

當然呢個想法睇落係啱嘅

until it isn’t true,

直至變咗唔啱

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

到嗰陣時，已經做咩都補唔返喇

你嘅員工係預先警告嘅指標

Now, your employees are an early-warning indicator.

They will have intuitions if the model begins to slip,

佢哋嘅直覺會知道現時模型開始變差

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

但係好難公開講出嚟

And it’s even taboo for them to speak up

當商業模式面臨壓力時

when the business model is under pressure.

佢哋甚至不敢提出問題

But when executives create playgrounds --

但當領導層創造咗遊樂場環境嘅時候 ——

spaces for the safe exploration of alternatives

可以安全噉探索其他選擇嘅空間

and alternative scenarios --

同替代方案——

then you get to tap into your employees’ considerable experience

然後你就利用員工嘅豐富經驗

about the vulnerabilities

檢視關於漏洞同弱點 以及公司嘅盲點

and the weak spots

and the blind spots of your company.

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

有冇人記得最近去過其中一個 華麗嘅大理石宮殿？

No?

冇？

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

我哋可能已經有段時間 冇去當地嘅銀行分行

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

如果實體銀行玩過「驗屍前遊戲」

perhaps they would have heard their employees expressing some concerns

可能佢哋會聽過佢哋嘅僱員講

about the gradually dwindling flow of customers to local branches.

擔心越嚟越少顧客去本地銀行分行

And perhaps they would have been slightly less taken by surprise

或者佢哋會稍微唔會噉驚啲新銀行

when companies like NewBank,

嗰啲數碼原居民

a digital native,

seized, very rapidly indeed, on that opportunity

實在迅速噉抓住咗呢啲機會

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

就依家，說服咗 超過 4,000 萬拉丁美洲人

that in-person transactions in real buildings

親身去銀行交易

were a quaint but obsolete relic of the past.

係種過時嘅做法

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

只有當你睇 清楚你嘅弱點嗰陣

in this way

that you may be motivated to reimagine your business

你可能會重新構想你嘅生意

and to do so in a robust manner.

並以穩健嘅方式噉做

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

呢個亦都係點解羅馬天主教教會

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

喺十六世紀發明咗魔鬼代言人嘅角色

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

反思將來委任新聖徒嘅後果

除咗諗著樓上大佬嘅正常程序

They did that by imagining

what would Satan say

佢哋仲通過想像去構想

or propose

or counterpropose,

撒旦會講啲咩

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

或建議啲咩

抑或反建議啲咩

Now, any human being, any employee, any team

任何人、僱員、團隊

同公司都利用人類嘅想像力

and therefore any company can harness human imagination.

It’s a defining trait of our species.

呢樣係我哋物種嘅決定性特徵

Failures to imagine in business are really failures of leadership.

喺生意度缺乏想像力 就係領導層失敗

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

做生意係嚴肅嘅 但唔好排除玩遊戲

When leaders embrace play and imagination games,

當領袖接納咗玩想像嘅遊戲

they can unlock the imagination of their employees,

會釋放員工嘅想像力

uncover disruptive new strategies

發掘顛覆性嘅新策略

and renew their lease on the future.

並延續與未來嘅契約

Thank you.

多謝﹗

(Applause)

（掌聲）