如何想出更好的商業點子？
|
????好的點子究竟是從哪里來的？ ????“idea”一詞源自希臘語idein，意思是“看見”。這并非巧合。在《點子高手：如何找到最好的點子，并付諸實施》（The Idea Hunter: How to Find the Best Ideas and Make Them Happen）一書中，作者安迪?博因頓與比爾?費舍爾（以及記者威廉姆?伯勒）認為，好的商業點子并不會像閃電一樣，突然出現在天空中。 ????相反，它們通常都躺在某個不起眼的地方，等著有人來發現——比如，1905年，在美國棕櫚海灘的一條賽車道上，亨利?福特撿到了一小塊很輕的材料。那是一輛法國汽車殘骸上的碎片。后來，福特回憶道：“它很輕，但非常結實。我到處打聽它是用什么材料做成的，可是沒人知道。” ????原來，那一小塊碎片是含釩的合金鋼，當時美國還沒有開始生產。為了研究這種材料，福特投入了最優秀的研發團隊。三年之后，他的公司推出了一款更持久耐用、重量更輕的汽車，使福特公司（Ford）在競爭激烈、群雄逐鹿的汽車市場中，占據了決定性的優勢。 ????《點子高手》一書中，還列舉了許多具有標志性的美國企業的例子，比如迪士尼（Disney）、谷歌（Google）、沃爾瑪（Wal-Mart）和美國運通（American Express）等，以證明一個觀點，即“好奇心可以充分彌補才華的不足?！保ㄕ绨柌?愛因斯坦曾說：“我沒有什么天分，我只是非常好奇。”）對于我們這些并不是天才的人來說，這種說法足以讓我們振奮。 ????該書的作者認為，實際上，“（企業內）那些最聰明的人，往往會高估自己的智商”，而這會導致他們“只會堅持自己的成功法則，而不去尋找更好的點子。換句話說，他們就是提不起足夠的興趣?！?/p> ????《點子高手》一書的大部分內容，介紹的都是如何利用按部就班的法則，將對大千世界的狂熱興趣，變成具有轟動效應的產品與服務。在《腦力操控：獲得突破性點子的更好方法》（Brainsteering: A Better Approach to Breakthrough Ideas）一書中，作者凱文?P?科因與肖恩?T?科恩從人腦如何工作的最新研究結果出發，闡述了同樣的過程。 ????他們認為，大部分關于創新的傳統觀點都是錯誤的。世界上存在壞點子這種東西，把你想到的所有想法都列出來，并不能讓你找到最好的，而且大部分頭腦風暴會議并無實際作用。 ????你對此已經有所了解，對嗎？這或許是從你以往的痛苦經歷中得來的吧？那么，根據《腦力操控》一書，你已經可以進行下一步了：把問題問到點子上是門藝術，一旦你掌握了這門藝術，你獲得好點子的機會將大得多。 ????當然，要掌握這個技巧需要耐心和毅力。因此，書中提供了一種練習，你現在就可以嘗試一下：每當你遇到讓自己驚嘆的點子時——比如一款新產品或服務、一則能夠打動人的廣告、一條節省成本的妙招，記得問你自己：“有哪三個問題能讓我想到那個點子？” ????不要害怕往“大”處想。例如，不要問“我們如何能擴大銷售，以實現今年銷量增長5%的目標？”，換一種問法試試：“要把我們的產品推廣到全世界每一位消費者的手邊，我們需要怎么做？” ????該書作者表示，這聽起來不切實際。但是，可口可樂公司（Coca-Cola）在數十年前便確立了這個大膽的目標，并且順利實現。 |
????Where exactly do good ideas come from? ????The word "idea" comes from the Greek idein, which means "to see." That's no coincidence. As co-authors Andy Boynton and Bill Fischer (with journalist William Bole) point out in their book, The Idea Hunter: How to Find the Best Ideas and Make Them Happen, great business ideas don't occur as bolts out of the blue. ????Instead, they're usually just lying around in plain sight somewhere, waiting for someone to notice them -- like, for instance, the little scrap of lightweight material Henry Ford picked up off the ground at a racetrack in Palm Beach in 1905. A bit of debris from the wreck of a French car, "it was very light and very strong. I asked what it was made of," Ford later recalled. "Nobody knew." ????The stuff turned out to be a steel alloy containing vanadium, which was not manufactured in the U.S. at the time. Ford put his best R&D team on it and, three years later, his company rolled out a more durable, lightweight line of cars that gave Ford a decisive advantage in the crowded, chaotic auto market. ????The Idea Hunter draws on dozens of other examples from iconic U.S. companies like Disney, Google, Wal-Mart, and American Express to make the point -- an encouraging one for those of us who are no geniuses -- that "curiosity…can more than make up for a lack of brilliance." (As Albert Einstein once said, "I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.") ????In fact, the authors contend, "the cleverest people [in an organization] have a tendency to overestimate their brain power," which leads them to "stick to their success formula and…not go hunting for better ideas. In other words, they're just not interested enough." ????Most of The Idea Hunter is a step-by-step prescription for turning avid interest in the world beyond one's cubicle into blockbuster products and services. In Brainsteering: A Better Approach to Breakthrough Ideas, co-authors Kevin P. Coyne and Shawn T. Coyne tackle the same process from the perspective of new research on how the brain works. ????By their lights, much of the conventional wisdom about innovation just isn't true. There is such a thing as bad ideas, making a list of every idea that comes into your head won't result in finding the best one, and most brainstorming sessions just don't work. ????You knew that already, maybe from bitter experience? Then according to Brainsteering, you're ripe for the next step: Mastering the art of asking the right questions, which have a far better chance of yielding great answers than the questions you may be asking now. ????Acknowledging that acquiring the knack takes patience and perseverance, the authors offer an exercise you can try right now: Every time you come across an idea you admire -- a new product or service, a persuasive ad, a clever cost-saving move -- ask yourself, "What are three possible questions that could have led me to come up with that idea?" ????And don't be afraid to think big. Instead of asking, for example, "How can we expand distribution to meet our 5% sales volume growth target this year?," try asking: "What would it take to get our product within arm's reach of every consumer on the planet?" ????Wild as it sounds, the authors note, that audacious goal -- set decades ago -- has worked out pretty well for Coca-Cola. |
